By Andy Asemota
No fewer than 742 bills were introduced during the two sessions of the Ninth Senate of which 58 have been passed while 355 and 75 bills have sailed through first and second readings respectively.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, made this disclosure at the opening of the special session to mark the second year anniversary of the Senate this Wednesday.
Lawan said apart from the bills referred to the relevant committees for further legislative business, eleven (11) bills referred to the House of Representatives by Senators for concurrence had also been passed in line with the thrust of their legislative agenda across all sectors.
The Senate President also assured that the National Assembly would vote on issues brought before it as a result of its public hearings before the legislature proceeds on an annual summer retreat in July.
“It is the desire of our people that they are provided opportunities to express their view on issues they feel strongly about,” Lawan insisted in an apparent reference to agitations of some Nigerians that the Senate stopped the constitution review exercise.
On electoral reforms, the Senate President pledged the determination of the Senate to also pass the Electoral Reform Bill before the Red Chamber would go on its annual summer recess.
Speaking on the much-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the Senate President promised to break the jinx of the 20-year-old bill, saying “we are on the verge of passing the bill in this month of June.”
According to him, one of the most significant interventions of the Senate in the economic sector remained the restoration of the annual budget cycle from January to December cycle thus making the nation’s fiscal plan more predictable and a boost to the confidence of local and foreign investors in Nigeria’s economy.
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He said: “For the first time in the Fourth Republic, the budget achieved 100% implementation of last year’s (2020) budget. The restoration was achieved in collaboration with our colleagues in the House of Representatives and cooperation with executive arms of government.”
The Senate President maintained that since the outset of the 9th Senate on June 11, 2019, the Upper Legislative Chamber had deployed legislative interventions to enhance good governance in the country.
The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, however, declined any comment on the mid-term review of the performance of the legislature, but the majority of the lawmakers including the Deputy Minority Leader however scored the Senate high although many senators submitted that both the legislative and executive could do better.
