The Senate has unanimously rejected the sale of national assets as a means to raise capital to fund the 2016 budget and revamp the economy. The decision followed the Senate’s conclusion of its debate on the Economy and consideration of the report of its 6 man Ad-hoc committee that was constituted to harmonize the resolutions and recommendations raised during the debate. The Ad-hoc Committee had submitted a 20-point recommendation to the Senate for adoption at its plenary on Tuesday, 27th September 2016.
The hallowed chambers also made an amendment to the Ad-hoc Committee ‘s position on the sale of national assets on the grounds after Sen. Abdullahi Adamu ‘s (APC: Nasarawa) view that more members had opposed the sale of National Assets during its debate on the economy. In view of this Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (PDP: Enugu) proposed an amendment that reflected the Senate’s stiff opposition to the sale of National Assets.
The Senate however adopted other recommendations made by the Ad-hoc Committee with few amendments. Some of the recommendations include:
- That the Executive urgently prepare an Economic Stimulus Bill containing all the fiscal stimulus packages, investments, and incentives designed to pull the Country out of recession;
- That the fiscal and monetary authorities meet to harmonise all policies that lower interest rates for genuine investors in the real sector as well as Small and Medium scale farmers and processors;
- Explore avenues to shore up foreign reserves by restoring oil production to 2.2 million barrels per day and adopting peaceful means to stop vandalization of petroleum and gas pipelines;
- Engage in meaningful and inclusive dialogue with aggrieved Niger Delta Militants to avoid escalation of unrest in the region and ensure protection of oil and gas assets;
- Urgently negotiate concessionary borrowing instruments to provide funds to cover revenue shortfalls;
- Settle all outstanding salaries and pension liabilities;
- Leverage the use of pension and insurance funds to provide long-term capital for lending to targeted agriculture, industry and housing projects;
- Review and ensure the payment of all genuine domestic debts owed to local contractors who had satisfactorily completed the jobs ordered by the Government;
- Reconstitution of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Board and all other critical Agencies to ensure they operate in accordance with the enabling laws;
- Institute adequate legislative framework including the amendment of the Constitution to aid governance and economic structure and strengthen the proactive fight against corruption
- Retool export promotion policy scheme with export incentives such as the resumption of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), and the introduction of export financing initiatives;
The Senate also restated its commitment to institute a legislative framework with timeline for key government policies especially in agriculture and mineral sub-sector to boost investors confidence in government and agreed to examine, prioritize and fast track consideration and passage of the following Bills:
(a) Petroleum Industry Bill
(b) National Development Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill;
(c) Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Act (Amendment) Bill;
(d) National Road Fund (Establishment) Bill;
(e) National Transport Commission Act, 2001;
(f) Warehouse Receipts Act (Amendment) Bill;
(g) Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA)
(h) Investment and Securities Act (ISA)
(i) Customs and Excise Management Act
(j) Federal Competition Authority Bill
(k) National Road Authority Bill.
