The Senate at a special session on Friday, 9 June 2017, marked the anniversary of its second legislative year. Presiding over the session, Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki(APC: Kwara) expressed gratitude over the commitment of his fellow lawmakers in ensuring the success of the 8th Senate. He also highlighted the co-operation of the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu (PDP:Enugu) as being central to the smooth running of the chambers.
Presenting the highlights of the Senate in the past legislative year, the Senate President focused on some critical bills, interventions, budget and social reforms that the chamber had undertaken within the past legislative year. For instance, he mentioned the passage of three out of six bills on infrastructure including the widely acclaimed Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, which seeks to create an entirely new regulatory and institutional regime for the oil and gas industry. He also mentioned the Procurement Amendment Act, which directs all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to source products locally as corroborating Federal government’s policy in promoting the reduction of imported goods.
Stating how the Senate had contributed to issues of Governance, Anti-corruption and Transparency, he mentioned the passage of the Executive’s Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill which would improve legal relationships between Nigeria and foreign countries in criminal cases. The Senate President also elaborated on the importance of the Ad-hoc Committee that investigated the humanitarian crisis in the North East recalling how it exposed high levels of corruption and indicted high-ranking public officials. Other noteworthy achievements highlighted in his address on the subject included Senate’s intervention in the administration of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme, leading to the saving of N25billion by the Government and the setting up of the Committee on Legislative Compliance to hold Senators and Committees accountable to their mandate.
Speaking on budget reforms, Sen. Saraki mentioned that the 2017 Appropriation budget contained many firsts. For instance, he stated that the national budget was historically laid with details (including that of the National Assembly) and thereby fulfilling the promise to open the Budget of the National Assembly for public scrutiny. In addition, he mentioned the Joint Public Hearing on the Budget that allowed stakeholders contribute to the 2017 Appropriation Bill as the first since 1999. He also revealed that the recent passage of the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (Establishment) Bill would enable the establishment of a fiscal policy arm or a think-thank within the legislature that would provide the much needed analysis on the budget among others.
Furthermore, the Senate President spoke on how the Senate had championed social reforms by its passage of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill, which seeks to rebuild and rehabilitate the North East, how it had allocated an additional sum of N10billion for the relocation and resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Concluding his remarks, Sen. Saraki reiterated that the Senate and the National Assembly had an ambitious and active agenda to support Nigeria’s economy, create jobs and protect citizens irrespective of their places of residence. He also called for constructive criticism that would foster improvement on the part of the legislature.
