News Post

The Upper Legislative Chamber on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 deliberated upon and passed three Motions in addition to the passage of National Assembly Budget and Research Office (Establishment, etc.) Bill, 2017 (S.B. 222), sponsored by Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central); among the Motions passed by the Red Chamber include:

1) The dire need for a Stakeholders Round Table to address increasing interest rates in Nigeria, sponsored by Sen. Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim (Kwara South).

According to Sen. Ibrahim, the Senate noted the pre-eminent position of the Banking Sector as the blood channel for sustaining the economy and the need to ensure that indices operating at all times are good for the survival of businesses and the economy. He added that the Chamber is concerned that the current regime of high interest rate continues to place a major burden on business investments and household consumption spending in Nigeria thereby negatively impacting on the survival of Nigerian businesses.

Sen. Ibrahim disclosed that the Senate is worried that this is perpetuating the indicator which shows that only 3% of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) starting up in the country having access to credits from banks which ironically employ about 80% of the work force and therefore the backbone of the economy. He is further disturbed by the lending rates to the private sector which hovered between 28% and 30% across board. The law-maker however acknowledged that if the nation is to make necessary reforms of the economy, it cannot neglect the challenges that increasing interest rates pose to the survival of businesses. The Motion scaled through with a single resolution below:

i) Mandate the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions to organize a Round Table Session with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Banks, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), other relevant Stakeholders and Industry Experts with a view to finding immediate, sustainable and lasting solution that would help usher in a new interest rate regime that supports enterprise development in Nigeria.

2) The increasing rate of Dropped Calls and other unwholesome practices by Telecommunication Network Operators in Nigeria that had robbed Nigerians of their hard earned billions of naira, sponsored by Sen. Andy Uba (Anambra South). The Motion sailed through with five prayers below:

i) Strongly condemn the inefficiency of GSM Network Operators in Nigeria resulting in poor service delivery.

ii) Urge the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to invoke the appropriate provision of the law and other extant agreements to protect consumers where necessary and refund them henceforth for disrupted calls caused by Network issues and allow them to have more control over their usage of data bundles as practiced by the Telecom Operators in countries like Kenya (Safaricom), South Africa etc.

iii) Urge the NCC, The Nigerian Consumer Protection Council (NCPC), the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory agencies to carry out effective supervision of the Telecom Service Providers to ensure regulatory excellence; operational efficiency and sterling service delivery.

iv) Direct the NCC and other relevant agencies to carry out a thorough investigation of the causes of dropped calls in the GSM network and come up with innovation that will improve customer experiences.

v) Direct the NCC that all international calls to Nigeria terminates with the caller’s number.

3) World Environment Day – Monday 5th June, 2017, sponsored by Sen. Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central)

The Senate noted that the 5th of June every year is World Environment Day, set aside to create awareness for environmental issues and the protection of the environment. The Motion was passed with six resolution below:

i) Call on government at all levels to create a feasible framework for the realization of the protection of the environment under the Sustainable Development Goals.

ii) Urge the Ministry of Environment to create awareness and sensitize Nigerians on environmental issues with a view to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of the citizenry.

iii) Urge the Federal and State Ministries of Education to include Environmental Studies in curriculum of school children.

iv) Accelerate the passage of the Erosion Prevention and Control Bill, 2017 (S.B. 32) and other environment protection related Bills.

v) Mandate the Ministry of Environment and other relevant Agencies to create a framework to stop and prevent further deforestation and degradation as well as the replacement of lost vegetative cover.

vi) Mandate the Ministry of Environment and relevant Agencies to create a sustainable and viable framework to counter climate change and its effects.

Meanwhile, the Upper Legislative Chamber has received, considered, adopted and approved the Conference Committee Report on National Assembly Budget and Research Office (Establishment, etc.) Bill, 2017 (S.B. 222), sponsored by Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central).

Nonetheless, the Senate has received a request from the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo seeking the Chamber’s consideration and approval of 2016 – 2018 External Borrowing Plan of $1.492 billion for States’ development projects. The States requesting for the external loan borrowing approval include Kaduna, Ogun, Ebonyi, Abia, Jigawa, Kano and Enugu. The request was read on the floor of the Chamber by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.