DEBATE ON THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY CONTINUES
The Senate on Thursday, September 22, 2016 continued the debate on the State of the Economy, having deferred it to another legislative date yesterday. Almost half of the 109 distinguished Senators contributed to the debate during the plenary that lasted more than six hours, presided over by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Major highlights of the deliberations were the contribution of the Senate Chief Whip, Sen. Shola Adeyeye who cited that the abuse of contract mobilization fee has resulted in the abandoning of many capital projects across the country thus littering most of the states of the federation and encouraged corruption in government.
Sen. Adeyeye averred that the National Assembly must be a better Parliament by giving itself a better structure that would offer panacea to the challenges of the nation. He stressed that the structure will henceforth put a stop to stealing and corruption as well as improve relationship between the federal, states and local government areas.
The ranking Principal Officer of the Senate urged law-makers to take a look at the Constitution Review Process and tinker with the Exclusive Legislative List with a view to reducing its burden. He opined that State Governors in Nigeria should not be blamed for lack of meaningful development in the States because the Presidency was busy spending the national money. He advised that the Presidency must consult the Governors before dipping its hands in the country’s commonwealth.
The Law-maker called on Nigerians to protect the value of the naira for the nation’s economy to be buoyant. He asserted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor has a parallel government by spending the country’s money without recourse to legislative approval. This must be stopped and the CBN Governor called to order. The Parliamentarian stated that for Nigeria to be saved, Nigerians must imbibe the culture of honesty and creativity in ending poverty.
Other Legislators that contributed to the debate include Senators Barau Jibrin, Kabiru Gaya, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Abdullahi Adamu, Aliyu Wamakko, Omo-Agege, Andy Uba, Emmanuel Paulker, Monsurat Sunmonu, Sunny Ogbouji, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Ben Murray Bruce, Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel, Aliyu Wakil, Danjuma La’ah, Umar Kurfi, Theodore Orji, Ibrahim Gobir, Solomon Adokwe, Abubakar Kyari, Gershom Bassey, Dada Joseph Gbolahan, Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, Gyunka Philip Aruwa, Abdul Aziz Murtala Nyako, Jeremiah Useni, Joshua Dariye, Philip Aduda, Olamilekan Adeola Solomon, Jonah Jang, Yahaya Abdullahi, Gbenga Ashafa, Hope Uzodinma, Clifford Ordia, Ahmed Lawan, Chukwuka Utazi, Isa Hammah Misau, Faseyi Duro Samuel, Buhari Abdulfatai, Shittu Muhammed and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki among others.
Sen. Saraki commended Senators for their patriotism, patience and statesmanship, having waited patiently for two days to contribute. He disclosed that the two-day debate has offered a lot of recommendations on the nation’s economic recession and challenges which he said would be streamlined on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 by an Ad-hoc Committee to be set up by the Chamber at the end of the debate.
The Ad-hoc Committee has been named and members include Sen. Barau Jibrin, Sen. Ben Murray Bruce, Sen. Muhammed Hassan, Sen. John Enoh and Sen. Tijani Yahaya Abdullahi as Chairman.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joshua Dariye has decamped from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC). The law-maker made his position known through a letter addressed to the Senate President which was read on the floor of the Chamber; stating that his decision was informed by the demand of his constituents to move to the ruling party, APC.