The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has vowed to disappoint those who have the notion that the leadership of National Assembly controlled by the ruling party cannot work in harmony with the executive.
Lawan, speaking Tuesday as senators reconvened from their two weeks break, challenged lawmakers to work in unison to achieve a lot for Nigerians.
This was as Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives, said the leadership of the House needed wider consultation before announcing new principal officers but constituted a 10-man adhoc committee to review the rules of the House.
Lawan, who promised not to subscribe to adversarial or acrimonious relationship with the executive, stressed that the presidential system of government was not designed to function in an acrimonious manner.
In his address of welcome, Lawan assured his colleagues that work had begun, noting that exchange of views by senators in the 9th Senate at the hallowed chamber would be constructive.
He said senators must be guided on how to impact positively on the people, reiterating that he would lead a bipartisan Senate.
The Senate president, who noted that lawmakers would intensify efforts on robust oversight, said that they would also consolidate on the oil reforms started in the 8th Senate.
Lawan said: “Let me welcome you all back from the short break as we formally begin our work in the 9th session of the National Assembly. It is trite to say that we all have our job cut out for us.
”I have in recent weeks had discussions with President Muhammadu Buhari on the challenges facing the country and how we can leverage our position as lawmakers to help him deliver on his mandate.
”I will be doing more of that in the coming weeks and months. If we must build an economy that lifts majority of our people out of poverty, there is need for a serious collaboration between the executive and the legislature.
“However, I am also aware that there are people for whom any notion that the leadership of a National Assembly controlled by the ruling party work in harmony with the executive is anathema. That is not the way the presidential system of government was designed to function and I am not for any adversarial or acrimonious relationship.
”I intend to work closely with President Buhari in the interest of Nigeria without compromising the integrity of the National Assembly as an independent arm of government with oversight powers.
“As lawmakers, one of the powerful tools we have for our work is the power of oversight which is meant to enhance transparency and accountability. In exercising these powers, we will not only review, monitor and supervise projects being implemented by the executive, we will critically examine them vis-à-vis the cost and whether they align with our national aspirations.
”We will follow the progress of these projects right from conception to when they are finally delivered to the people. But we will do so with every sense of responsibility.
“I have been in the National Assembly since 1999, first as a member of the House of Representatives and from 2007 as a senator, so I am conversant with the role of the legislature and the principle of separation of powers, both in theory and in practice.
”The system of checks and balances which we practice in Nigeria today was enshrined to safeguard the values of justice and the rule of law and deliver public good. Therefore, in a season when majority of Nigerians are more concerned with outcomes that reflect their concerns, the best way to serve that interest is through cooperation and collaboration.
“In a period of dwindling resources amid rising population, the expectations of our people remain huge. But to deliver those essential services without which our society can neither develop nor thrive, the executive and the legislature must work together.
”So, in exercising our mandate as lawmakers, we must at all times, and in all circumstances, be guided by how our action will positively impact the greater majority of our people. Each of us, as lawmakers, must also resolve that the exchange of views, especially within this hallowed chambers, will be constructive and that we will respect one another.
”Tolerance, which we cannot legislate upon in this chambers, is a virtue we must all strive to promote in a bid to reposition our multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. On my part, I pledge to lead in a bipartisan and unifying manner.
“Distinguished colleagues, it should worry us in this chamber that majority of our people still grapple with extreme poverty. But while how to tackle the growing inequality should be part of our legislative agenda, the security challenge posed by insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal cartels from North to South, East to West will require our collective efforts.
”We also need to consolidate on the oil sector reforms started by the last Senate, even as we help the executive to reinvigorate the war against corruption with necessary legislation. If there is one issue that is dear to me and which we must all take very seriously, it is that more than ten million of our children are out of school.
”As a former lecturer who has also in the past chaired the House of Representatives Committee on Education, I subscribe to the view that ‘All children, no matter where they live or what their circumstances, have the right to quality education.’
Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, over 10 million of the country’s children aged 5 – 14 years are out of school. This is a challenge for us in the next four years. I am well aware that the problems of our country are quite enormous but they are not insurmountable.
”If we all work together as members of the same government, with different roles, we will achieve our goals to better the lot of the Nigerian people.”
Meanwhile, senators were Tuesday handed over envelopes containing keys and letters of office allocation in order to intimate them of their offices by the Senator Abubakar Kyari led Ad-hoc Committee to allocate offices.
In the House of Representatives, the speaker, Gbajabiamila, said the leadership of the House needed wider consultation before announcing the new principal officers.
He, however, constituted a 10-man member ad-hoc committee to review the rules of the House of Representatives. The committee is chaired by Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo).
It will be recalled that the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan at Tuesday plenary officially announced the principal officers of the Senate, leaving the House behind on the matter.
But speaking to journalists at the end of the session, Bamidele Salem, a member of the House ad-hoc Committee on Media, said the development had no political connotations.
Assuring that the speaker would make the announcement before the end of the week, Salem said: “It was not announced because there is a need for wider and further consultations by the speaker and deputy speaker to be sure that whatever is announced is in consonance with the provision of our rules.
”Before the week runs out, there will be an announcement of all the other principal officers of the House.”
Meanwhile, Ado Doguwa, a member of the House, has dismissed speculations making the rounds that his nomination as the Majority Leader of the House by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, on Monday would be substituted with Mohammed Monguno from Borno State, Northeast or any other lawmaker from the party before the official announcement by the speaker.
.He said the Senate and the House were joint but two distinct chambers, saying Yahaya’s emergence would not affect him.
