Fred Itua, Abuja 

When President Muhammadu Buhari issued a proclamation in June, sanctioning the inauguration of the 9th Senate, many Nigerians concluded that the upper legislative chamber will be an extension of the Executive arm.

During the inauguration, Ahmad Lawan was elected as President of the Senate in a landslide victory. As soon as Lawan assumed office, he rolled out his key working points. There were some skepticisms in certain quarters on the possibility of achieving some of his working points.

Upon assumption of office, Lawan said he will return the county to a January-December budget circle. He also vowed to ensure that the frosty relationship that had existed between the Legislature and the Executive was looked into.

Lawan also promised to ensure that senators were not identified based on their political parties, but the interest of the country first. Lawan, upon his election, also promised to ensure that the various standing Committees will carry out thorough oversight functions of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Although he made other promises, the aforementioned were the key areas he promised to focus on as President of the Senate. There are arguments on whether or not these promises have been kept. While a large number of Nigerians agree that he has fulfilled his key promises, others believe that he can do more.

Since 1999, the relationship between the Legislature and the Executive, has always been a subject of discussion. Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’dua and Goodluck Jonathan, had running battles with the National Assembly.

The Executive-Legislature gridlock also affected the implementation of key government policies and programmes. The high point of the turbulent relationship was between 2015 and 2019, when Bukola Saraki held sway as President of the Senate.

Despite the fact that Saraki was a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) then, he was one of the vocal voices that opposed President Buhari. Some key requests from the Executive were rejected, while lawmakers were always critical of Buhari. Since Lawan assumed office, there appears to be a paradigm shift.

For over four years, specifically between 2015 and 2019, budgets were passed by the National Assembly belatedly. Many pundits believed that the late passage was largely responsible for the poor implementation.

With the passage of the 2020 budget and signing it into law by President Buhari, Lawan has succeeded in fulfilling one of his cardinal promises to return the country to January-December circle. Many observers believe that the mileage is as a result of the existing cordial relationship between the two arms.

Speaking on the development, Lawan, while briefing newsmen in Abuja, said: “The benefits of the harmonious relationship with the Executive are evident in the timely passage of the budget and finance bills and the prompt assent by the President to the Deep Off-shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act CAP D3 LFN 2004 (Amendment Bill, 2019.

“Our desire for cordial relationships with the other arms of government notwithstanding, the Senate and indeed the ninth National Assembly will continue to firmly exercise its oversight role on the executive agencies with a view to ensuring transparency, accountability and good governance.”

In a lengthy remark on some of the key achievements of the 9th Senate, Lawan said: “As members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, we have a commitment to provide support and guidance for the development agenda of our government. This commitment we are pursuing through quality legislation and prompt consideration of public petitions and requests from the President for confirmation of appointments into important offices.

“In doing these, we placed a premium on internal harmony of the Senate and indeed of the entire National Assembly as an institution, through a bi-partisan approach to legislation. We allow the expression of every view in true parliamentary tradition, but we always try to build consensus on issues, no matter how critical they are.

“Parties and other inclinations may divide us, but we always strive to act as the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an institution established to bolster national unity; and through the experience and maturity of its members provide guidance for good governance.

“This Senate has been very active since its inauguration in June 2019. Our primary responsibility is lawmaking. In this respect, the ninth Senate has been up and doing and its record compares favourably to any other before it in the history of our nation.

“Within the first six months of its inauguration, the ninth Senate has passed Six Bills into law, four of them members’ bills. The first of these bills is the Deep Off-shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act CAP D3 LFN 2004 (Amendment Bill, 2019.

“While declaring open a public hearing on the Bill in October, I had remarked that it had become absolutely necessary for us as a country to pass the Bill so that we can generate more revenues from our endowments. I had on that occasion assured that the National Assembly was determined to pass this bill and that it will be a precursor to our determination to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill next year.

“The Deep Off-shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Bill after being passed by NASS was promptly assented into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 4th of November 2019.

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“The passage and signing of this law demonstrates what two institutions can achieve when they are guided in their actions by patriotism. This law will significantly increase accruals to the government from crude oil contracts.

“It has also ended our years of inexplicable failure to call in returns due to us from our joint venture partners. As a result of this law, we have expanded a critical revenue stream and ensured more funds will flow into the treasury that will enable the government to execute its budgets and critical developmental projects.

“The two Executive bills that we have passed are the Appropriation Bill, 2020 and the Finance Bill 2019.

“We passed the Finance Bill, 2019 on 21 November, 2019.  The Bill amended seven (7) existing tax and fiscal policy laws  (Companies Income Tax Act, 2004; Value Added Tax Act, 2007; Customs and Excise Tariff (Consolidation) Act, 2004; Personal Income Tax Act, 2007; Capital Gains Tax Act, 2007; Stamp Duties Act, 2007; and Petroleum Profit Tax Act, 2004) to reform Nigeria’s tax system for enhanced implementation and effectiveness.

“The Federal Government took the initiative to reform the tax system so as to create an enabling business environment and reduce the tax burden for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).”

“We also promptly passed the Appropriation Bill in line with our commitment to changing the current unhealthy and unpredictable budget cycle to a January to December fiscal calendar. This structural change and the prompt passage of the Appropriation Bill will give the government a full year to implement the budget.

“We believe this measure will enhance planning, implementation and monitoring of the budget by the relevant organs and agencies and significantly improve our annual budget performance.

“The three other bills that we have passed are the Public Procurement Act 2007 (Amendment) Bills, 2019; which we did to sanitise the public procurement process and curtail the incidence and influence of corruption.

“Aside from the six bills that were passed, 185 Bills have also gone through first reading in the ninth Senate, while 32 other Bills have passed second reading and are now undergoing the necessary further legislative processes at the relevant Senate Committees.

“Some of the bills that will be accorded priority when we return from the Christmas and New Year break in January are the Petroleum Industry Bill, Electoral Reforms Amendment Bills and Amendment of the 1999 Constitution.

“The Petroleum Industry Bill was first introduced in the National Assembly in 2007 but is yet to be passed in its entirety. The National Assembly will this time around adopt a different approach to make the passage of the PIB a reality.

“We want to see a situation where the Legislature and the Executive work very closely to have a PIB that will attract investment into the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. We want to create an investment climate that will be competitive. We know some other countries have this product, therefore, we have to be competitive, we have to create an environment where the businesses make profit.

“The Electoral Reforms Amendment Bill is a priority because of the urgent need to improve our electoral processes and secure the democratic gains that we have made in the Fourth Republic. We want to pass the Bill well ahead of the next electoral cycle in 2023 and avoid the political heat and pitfalls that imperiled the efforts of the eight National Assembly which passed the same bill close to the last general elections.

“We are not oblivious of the interest and concerns some of these bills have generated from the public. But we must not forget that lawmaking is a rigorous process that allows for all sides of the argument to be heard and the true will of the people established before a bill becomes law.

“On behalf of my Distinguished colleagues, I pledge that we, as elected representatives of the people, will always ensure that the will of our people is pivotal in our legislative business. This Senate and indeed the ninth National Assembly will not pass any bill that is not in the national interest. Ours is and will remain a Senate that will always work for Nigerians.

“As part of its statutory roles, the ninth Senate has also confirmed 12 key appointments, including those of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ministers of the Government of the Federation, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria; and chairmen and members of eight Commissions, Services and Corporations.

“Presently, we are screening the Presidential nominees for the National Hajj Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCOM). The Senate is also likely to pass the 2020 Budget for the Federal Capital Territory before we embark on our Christmas and New Year recess.

“The Senate has, within the past six months, received 78 public petitions which were referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. Most of these petitions were presented by private citizens with grievances against agencies or agents of government.

“The committee has so far examined nine of the petitions, concluded its investigations and laid its reports on the table. The Committee is also working on the other petitions with a view to satisfactorily addressing the grievances behind them.

“At our plenary proceedings, we took the decision to convene roundtable discussions on three critical sectors of our economy. This exercise started last week Monday with the power sector. The Federal Government in recent years has invested billions of dollars in this sector, most of which money appears to have gone down the drain as the problems of inadequate power supply continue to plague Nigeria,” Lawan added: