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After an uncharacteristically long six weeks break, Nigerians welcome back our lawmakers to the National Assembly (NASS) to a plethora of national issues to contend with.
As the NASS resume today, it is good to remind the lawmakers, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, that the legislature is the beacon of democracy and that there is a need to protect it.
To protect it, lawmakers, therefore, must tackle the front burner issues besetting the nation. Thes way lawmakers address these issues will go a long way in proving to Nigerians whether the Ninth Assembly has truly adorned the toga of a rubber stamp legislature or not.
The manner the Nigerian lawmakers choose to address and tackle them will largely shape the federal legislature and by extension the body polity of project Nigeria.
Imo Supreme Court verdict
One of the sensitive issues lawmakers must swiftly move to address, is the Supreme Court verdict that nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha.
The apex court on January 14 sacked Ihedioha who came first in the last March Imo guber polls and crowned his fellow combatant Senator Hope Uzodinma who came a distant fourth governor.
The verdict was received with protests in different parts of Nigeria, with Nigerians questioning how it is possible for Uzodinma who came a distant fourth to be crowned Governor by the Supreme Court.
Ihedioha vowed to return to the Supreme Court to prove that Uzodinma was never candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the first place, stressing that Uche Nwosu was declared as the rightful candidate of APC and AA and was disqualified for double candidature; hence, Uzodinma could not have been candidate of the APC, as APC could not have produced two candidates in one election.
Given that the judgment of the Supreme Court is irreversible, the Imo verdict will be one acid test for the NASS, which lawmakers must handle with ironcast gloves to give Nigerians a little ray of hope that the judiciary is still alive to deliver its duties.
Lassa fever, Coronavirus
Lassa fever and Coronavirus are plagues that have put the government of nations on their feet.
Lassa fever scourge is fast taking a larger than life shape in Nigeria, and Coronavirus, a bigger threat to human life, is fast moving from China to various parts of the world.
These health issues are not friendly to anyone. There is an urgent need for the lawmakers to properly look into them, with the view to activate the various health bodies in Nigeria to be proactive.
Insecurity
Insecurity is also one major issue that demands the attention of the lawmakers as kidnappings, banditry across the six geo-political zones are on the increase.
Plying the roads and even rail transportation that Nigerians adjudged to be relatively safe is no longer safe.
Amotekun
Atomekun, the South West security outfit is also another turbulent issue that must not be handled with kid gloves.
The Federal Government has taken a position and with a weak minority leadership in the House the matter maybe swept under the carpet.
In the Senate if it’s ever mentioned, Senator Eyninnaya Abaribe and his men may make a good case for the south west security outfit as opposition in the Red Chamber is still alive to its duties.
Hate speech, social media bills
The Hate Speech and Social Media bills too are expected to be tabled in NASS because of the wide condemnations that greeted their introduction.
Meanwhile, President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan had while addressing a news conference in Abuja on Monday disclosed that the Senate would ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) into law before the end of the year.
Lawan also said that as the Senate resumes from its six weeks’ recess, from January 28, the upper legislative chamber under his watch would also consider the review of the electoral act.
He said that although the January 28 resumption date would be a sober moment for both chambers, given the demise of a member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa state.
He, however, said what the Senate had in mind for Nigerians on resumption was important.
On PIB, lawan said: “The PIB that has defiled passage, we want to break that jinx, whatever the mystery, we are determined to ensure that we pass the PIB, before the end of 2020 by the grace of God.
“The PIB is so important, because until you are able to pass that bill, you cannot attract investments into the oil and gas industry.
“In the last 10 years there has not been any investments in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, that is so important because we have lost so much.”
He said that the eventual passage of the bill would result in an enormous benefits and catapult the economy of Nigeria to the level that Nigerians desired.
On electoral act review, Lawan said that the senate was not oblivious that there was need to amend the electoral act.
“We have had the 2019 elections and we had also had re-run elections or bye-elections and recently on Saturday in 11 states, there was 28 elections.
“So, there must be lessons from those elections, so we should be looking at where there are challenges and what we need to do to provide legislative intervention, so that we have better election processes going forward.”
According to Lawan, amendment of the electoral act was going to occupy the minds of legislators.
On hike in Value Added Tax (VAT), Lawan said, “The 2. 5 per cent increment in VAT does not include items that ordinary Nigerians normally use.
“Many of the items that would now have additional 2.5 per cent are luxury items that ordinary Nigerians use.
“At this point, we need resources to provide basic social amenities that an average Nigerians need.”
On setting up the constitution review committee, he disclosed that the committee would soon be constituted.
“The committee will be constituted very soon, either this week or next week by the grace of God because the time is ripe for us to re-constitute the committee so that the members could start to work immediately.
“We have referred some bills to them already. Traditionally, everybody knows that since 1999, when the constitution review committees were formed in the National Assembly, in the senate, the Deputy President of the Senate usually head the committee, while the Deputy Speaker is usually the Chairman of the committee in the House of Representatives.
“We are going to maintain the tradition in the 9th Senate. We have a Deputy Senate President, who is vast, erudite lawyer who played a significant role in the 8th Assembly as a member of the committee on INEC and constitution review. So, we are good to go by the grace of God,” Lawan said.