CHUKWU DAVID reports that external engagements have hindered official inauguration of the Standing Committees of the 10th Senate by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the outcomes of the maiden sessions so far held by some of the committees

In previous Assemblies, it was the practice in the National Assembly for the Standing Committees of the two chambers to be inaugurated before they formally go into their statutory legislative and oversight functions. In the past, the committees were inaugurated by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or any of the principal officers delegated to perform the task.

However, in the present 10th Assembly, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has not had the time to personally inaugurate any of the committees or delegated any of the principal officers to stand in for him and carry out the ritual since he constituted the various standing committees in August. Recently, the Senate suspended plenary and there was an announcement that the President of the Senate will inaugurate the standing committees, but instead, it was later reported that he went to the Aso Rock Villa to meet with President Bola Tinubu on some undisclosed issues of national interest.

After that, the senators went to Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, for a two-day retreat, where Akpabio was also a major participant. Thereafter, the President of the Senate traveled to Luanda, the capital of Angola, where he led other lawmakers to attend the 147th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference. It is pertinent to note that Akpabio, during the conference, was elected into the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a development that was highly celebrated in Nigeria, as that was the first time Nigeria would be elected into the leadership cadre of the IPU in the last 59 years.

The last time Nigeria was elected into the Executive Committee was in 1964. However, when it became obvious that the previous tradition of the President of the Senate, going about to inaugurate the Standing Committees was not going to be sacrosanct, individual committees, launched out on their own and started holding their inaugural meetings, without waiting to be inaugurated by the President of the Senate.

Public Accounts Committee warns MDAs

One of the first standing committees to hold inaugural session is the Committee on Public Accounts, popularly called Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC). The committee has Senator Aliyu Wadada as its chairman and Peter Nwebonyi as vice chairman. At its maiden session, which held at the committee’s Hearing Room 4, of the Senate Wing of the National Assembly Complex, many other prominent members of the committee were in attendance, including Senators Adams Oshiomhole, Abdul Ningi and Seriake Dickson, among others.

In his speech, the chairman of the committee, Wadada, cautioned the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government, that the committee in the 10th Senate, will not tolerate things to be carried out with the old mentality of “business as usual.” He added that the committee will not entertain old ways of carrying out probes that never produced the desired result. He, therefore, urged members of the committee to work with the ultimate goal of actualising President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Senator Wadada particularly challenged members of his committee to come up with new strategies that will bring results and ensure proper accountability and transparency for the good of Nigeria and the Nigerian people.

Committee on Water Resources

Another Committee that held its inaugural meeting last week was the Committee on Water Resources, during which it assured that it will Collaborate and closely work with the executive arm of government to ensure provision of potable water for Nigerians. Speaking during the meeting, the chairman of the Committee and a former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, pointed out that water could be equated with life, and stressed that it is the responsibility of the government to provide clean water for the citizens.

He stated that there was need to provide water for energy, agriculture and other purposes for the people across the country, assuring that the committee will work with the executive, includ- ing MDAs under its supervision to advance the water resources sector. He also said that the committee will diligently conduct its functions and oversight to attain the agenda of the 10th Senate, while promising that the committee will look at the 16 agencies under its oversight jurisdiction and evolve measures on how best to improve their performance on water supply.

He noted that the agencies were created to ensure supply of water for the purpose of development on sectors like electricity, agriculture and ultimately rural development of the people. Yari assured that any bill that is against the interest of the people will not receive the support of the Senate, saying the National Assembly will only legislate and support bills of interest and good of Nigerians.

Committee on Appropriations

The Senate Committee on Appropriations, which is one of the Grade A committees, also held its maiden session last week. It was during the meeting that it was revealed that President Tinubu will present the proposed N26.1 trillion 2024 budget estimates to the joint session of the National Assembly early November. The committee also summoned the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun, and his counterpart on Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, to appear before it this week, for certain explanations.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, told journalists that President Tinubu will forward the 2024- 2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper to both chambers of the National Assembly this week, for consideration and approval. Senator Adeola suggested that the executive, in the proposed budget, should come up with 55 per cent allocations for capital expenditure as against between 25 and 30 per cent it has been over the years.

He stressed that the Appropriations Committee under his chairmanship, will not entertain any approval for corrigendum after budget consideration and passage. He, however, assured that despite the delay in budget presentation for the 2024 fiscal year, the already established January to December implementation period, would be sustained.

Committee on Industry blames Naira fall on border closure

The Senate Committee on Industry, on its part, attributed the free fall of the Naira to the border closure by the Federal Government, while advising that the borders be opened to ease business operations within the country. Speaking during the inaugural meeting of the committee, its chairman, Senator Francis Fadahunsi, posited that without the Federal Government opening the borders for smooth business operations, goods and services would not circulate adequately in the country.

He also pointed out that without adequate circulation of goods and services, revenue earnings would be stagnated, a situation he explained, was responsible for the free fall of the Naira on a daily basis. Fadahunsi, who appealed to the Federal Government to ease the process of doing business in Nigeria, said that such mea- sure will attract Foreign Direct Investments, with its attendant job creation. In his remarks, the vice chairman of the Committee, Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe, stated that they will do everything possible to provide the necessary legal backings to companies engaged in production and manufacturing of goods.

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