News Post

The Senate on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 resumed plenary session, approved votes and proceedings of December 22, 2015 and went into a closed door session. On resumption, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki announced that the Chamber deliberated upon issues on the 2016 Budget and other National issues. 

Sen. Saraki urged Nigerians to be vigilant for peace, tranquility and development to thrive in the country. He asserted that the National Assembly would work together with the Executive in rebuilding the North-East ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency, stressing that 2016 must be a year of tranquility, peace and progress as well as equip the economy towards national development.

The Senate President noted that the passage of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the 2015 Supplementary Appropriation Bills are some of the testimonies of legislative cooperation towards the development of the country. He disclosed that the Senate has already selected priority Bills for legislation and urged its Committees to be alive to their responsibilities through prompt presentation of their legislative reports on the budget and other national issues. Sen. Saraki directed the Committees to present their reports on or before January 20, 2016. 

Similarly, the Senate President added that the recent meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Largarde with the legislature on policies and economic development of Nigeria was a huge success, he added that the Senate would strive hard to undertake challenging programmes geared towards overall development of the nation. 

Also, the Red Chamber has considered and passed a Motion titled “The recent outbreak of Lassa Fever in Nigeria”, sponsored by Sen. Olanrewaju Tejuoso (Ogun Central) and five others. According to Sen. Tejuoso, Lassa fever or Lassa Haemorrhagic fever (LHF) is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. He averred that the disease is typically spread through aerosolized virus particles via either infected rodents or close contact with infected individuals. It has an incubation period of five to 21 days, with symptoms typically appearing ten days after infection.

Sen. Tejuoso noted that the recent outbreak of the fever has affected ten states of the country, including Bauchi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Edo, Plateau, Gombe and Oyo. The states are battling to curtail the spread of the disease. He expressed worry over the total number of suspected cases so far reported is 76 with 35 deaths and a case fatality rate of 46 per cent as confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Health.

Accordingly, the Motion was passed with four Resolutions that include:

1) Condole with families of Nigerians who have lost their relations to the outbreak of the disease.

2) Urge the Federal Government, Health Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations to carry out holistic and aggressive sensitization at markets, restaurants, neighborhoods, communities, offices and schools in states affected and those not affected be educated on preventive measures.

3) Urge Nigerians to be very conscious and adhere to rules of personal hygiene and put in more effort to get rid of rodents/rats from our environment to prevent the spread of the disease and report any case of persistent high fever not responding to standard treatment for malaria and typhoid fever to the nearest health center.

4) Observe a minute silence in honour of victims that died from the recent Lassa fever outbreak.