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| Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, President of the Senate and Senator representing Yobe North Senatorial District |
By Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan
I felicitate with all Nigerians and the Muslim Ummah on the occasion of Eid-el-Kabir.
Every true Muslim is always grateful to Allah the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful for the privilege to celebrate Sallah, regardless of our circumstances.
The best way to demonstrate our gratitude to Allah is to share His blessings with our neighbours and show love and kindness to all, as taught us by Holy Prophet Mohammed (SAW).
I also want to use the occasion to urge the faithful and all Nigerians to be steadfast in working and praying for the peace, unity and progress of our beloved country.
The current challenges are painful but this is a passing phase in our historical process of nation-building.
The Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is determined that we get the challenges behind us and steady our nation’s march to its manifest destiny of greatness.
The Ninth Senate and entire National Assembly will continue to facilitate the legislative environment needed for the success of all the efforts at the Public and Private Sectors targeted at the security, peace and prosperity of Nigeria.
In this respect, I will like to restate our resolute commitment to our Legislative Agenda as set out shortly after the inauguration of the Assembly in 2019.
I am proud that we have kept faith with our promises, as contained in that Agenda, to the Nigerian People as their Parliament.
The promises kept include passing the Petroleum Industry Bill(PIB) that had lingered for close to two decades. We finally broke that jinx.
We have also passed the Electoral Act 2010 Amendment Bill to further strengthen and enhance the integrity of our electoral processes.
We believe the two critical legislations will positively impact our economy and democracy.
Even before we passed the Electoral Act 2020 Amendment Bill, we had passed the Electoral Offences Commission Bill to check these offences.
Also worth mentioning is the hard work our Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution is doing to get its report ready for consideration as soon as we resume from our current summer vacation. We hope to consider the report this year before considering the 2022 Appropriation Bill and transmit the outcome to the state Houses of Assembly for their consideration.
We are confident that the new Constitution that will emerge from this exercise will substantially address all the areas of genuine concerns to patriotic Nigerians.
We are also committed to nurturing the tradition that we started of timely consideration of the budget by ensuring that the 2022 Appropriation Bill is passed by December so that the budget will continue to be implemented within the January to December cycle.
This however requires the cooperation of the Executive in presenting the estimates to the National Assembly on time.
Already, we have received the proposals on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Plan (MTEF/FSP 2022-2024) which provides the basis for the 2022 Budget estimates. We will definitely accord it expeditious consideration on our return from the recess.
As we mark Eid-el-Kabir, I urge us to continue adhering to the COVID-19 protocols so as to protect us and the society at large against the virus. We have been alerted by the health authourities that the Delta variant of the virus has surfaced in Nigeria. It requires strict adherence to the protocols already outlined by the health authourities to prevent the spread. Therefore, let us not lower our guards.
I wish you all happy celebrations.
