As the 9th Senate winds up on Saturday, Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, scored the Red Chamber high, describing his tenure as a glorious moment and a worthwhile adventure.
Lawan, who noted that the 9th Senate performed in the three core areas of lawmaking, representation and oversight, also said he was not bothered that the Senate he superintended was tagged rubber-stamp.
He noted that National Assembly passed many bills into law, out of which former President Muhammadu Buhari assented to about 112.
Speaking at a valedictory session with the Senate Press Corps yesterday in Abuja, Lawan said that his returning to the Senate for the 10th National Assembly having served as the President of the Senate would be purely for full representation of the people of Yobe North.
Lawan who has spent 24 years in NASS and has won re-election to the 10th Senate said he has witnessed a lot and worked with sets of Journalists, even as he stressed that they achieved the legislative agenda they set for themselves through “bipartisanship” and “united more efficient and productively worked for the nation.”
He gave examples to include return of budget cycle to January to December, passage of Petroleum Industry Bill, now Petroleum Industry Act, the Electoral Act 2022,etc, adding, “This are the kind of things that made us happy. We have done so many things that were reported.”
Lawan said, “My tenure, a glorious moment. It has been a worthwhile adventure. During my campaigns I said we will run a Senate that worked for Nigerians and we stick to that. We started very well.
“ After the election we said we would be bi- partisan and that helped us to be more effective and focused. Yes, we had disagreement but not much. On the whole, we have been able to work together as one legislature, irrespective of party affiliation. We are citizens of Nigerian, even though our parties are different. We did everything to move our country forward.
“I want to say that our unity and partnership and understanding of each other has made it possible for us to achieve much. Infact, in all my stay here, I have never seen a Senate that achieved much.”
Assembly is N128 billion which represents 0.8 percent of the total budget of N19 trillion
He however expressed concerns over the high rate of turnover of lawmakers, which he said “affects legislative productivity and money spent on capacity building, saying that if wishes were horses, “I would have loved that the turn over of lawmakers will be minimal. Each time 70% are dropped, capacity development would start all over again, but that is the choice of Nigerians.
The Senate President then described the Senate Press Corps members as “worthy partners in the development of Nigeria through factual reportage”.
He asked the journalists to extend same cooperation they have given him to the new leadership that would emerge next week.
