Fred Itua, Abuja
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has dismissed insinuations that the newly inaugurated ninth Senate is divided across party lines.
Instead, he explained the Parliament is driven by a passion to pass laws in the interest of the people. He said every lawmaker, irrespective of party affiliation, would be carried along.
Lawan spoke in Abuja on Thursday night when Senator Orji Uzor Kalu hosted him and other senators. Beside Lawan, the deputy president of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege and over 40 other lawmakers as well as diplomats and captains of industries attended the dinner.
“The Nigerian project is a project of the Nigerian people and not a political party’s project and everybody must ensure that it works. In the ninth senate, we are going to work together and we will distribute functions across party lines,” Lawan noted.
Former president of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, in his remarks, urged the ninth National Assembly, particularly the Senate not to abuse the trust reposed in them by Nigerians. While urging the Senate to pass annual budgets before embarking on its Christmas break, Nnamani said to whom much is given, much is expected.
He said if the Executive succeeds, the National Assembly too will succeed. He said at the right time, he would offer his own recipe on how to succeed as a presiding officer of the Senate.
He said: “The way senators comported themselves during the inauguration was good. Lawan has a popular support. In the Senate, there is no political party.”