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Story of the 8th Senate

…Most productive since 1999

The 8th Senate of the National Assembly will round off its business next Thursday. In this report, Akanni Alaka examines the various activities and interventions of the Dr. Abubakar Saraki-led Red Chamber, which was unarguably the most prolific in terms of bills passed since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.

The 8th Senate of the National Assembly will on Thursday, June 6, conclude its business with a valedictory, to mark the end of the session. “I want to thank all of us who are here present for today’s plenary. Today marks the end of our business session. We will be meeting on June 6 for our valedictory session. I want to appeal to all our colleagues to be present,” Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the chamber, last Thursday said.

Inaugurated on June 9, 2015, the 8th Senate took off on a controversial note mostly due to the fact that the President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, though then a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was not the preferred candidate of the leadership of the party for the position. But Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was in the same position with him, had argued that they were duly elected into the positions by their colleagues.

It was believed that the Senate President’s defiance of his party’s position was partly responsible for his over two years’ prosecution on charges of false declaration of assets, a trial which went all the way from the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, to the Supreme Court by the Executive, through the Code of Conduct Bureau CCB. The Senate President was freed of the charges by a five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad in a unanimous decision in July 2018. In dismissing the charges, the Supreme Court justices had described evidence led by the prosecution as hearsay.

While the trial lasted, the Senate President had to abandon the plenary, accompanied by a large number of his colleagues to attend court sessions. This was believed to be a huge distraction to the workings of the upper chamber.

So, as the 8th Session of the Senate rounds off its business this week, the question is; how big a distraction were Saraki’s frequent courtroom visits to the workings of the Senate?

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Prolific with bills

The Senators will most certainly disagree that the trial of their president disrupted their activities in any way. And in making that argument, they will cite the number of bills they passed, compared to the number passed by their predecessors. And they will be on sure grounds in their arguments, as investigations by The Nigerian Xpress also revealed. For instance, as at May 7, 2019, findings by this newspaper indicated that the 8th Senate had passed 293 bills. The number of bills, unarguably, the highest to be passed by any session of the red chamber within its four year tenure, is more than double the 128 bills passed by the 7th Senate and more than triple the 72 bills passed by the 6th Senate.

Even more important to note was the fact that out of the nearly 300 bills passed by the 8th Senate, only 11 were initiated by the Executive. This was aside the routine annual appropriations and supplementary budget proposals. Two out of the 11 bills from the executive have been passed as at the time of writing this story. One was withdrawn, one rejected by the lawmakers while the others are still undergoing considerations.

Rejected bills

At least, 32 of the bills passed by the Senate were rejected by the President Muhammadu Buhari. Key among such bills, which the President refused to give assent to was the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was rejected four times. Also rejected were the Petroleum Industry Governance bill, the bill seeking to amend the Constitution for an annual State of the Nation Address by the President, the  Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment bill, the Immigration (Amendment) bill, the Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners bill, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Amendment) bill, the Maritime Security Operations bill, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency bill, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency bill,  Energy Commission (Amendment) bill and the Federal Roads Authority (Establishment) bill,  Transport Commission bill, Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund bill and the National Housing Fund bill.

The President gave reasons for the rejection of the bills and the Senate has been working to carry out the necessary amendments with a view to re-forwarding the bills to the presidency for assent in the last few weeks. Also, 118 of the bills were initiated from the House of Representatives and concurred to by the Senate.

Deepening anti-corruption war

Analysis of the bills passed by the Senate revealed that they were aimed at engendering the much needed changes in various areas of Nigeria’s social, political and economic life. Some of the bills were also in response to emerging issues as well as to meet legitimate aspirations, concerns and needs of the various segments of the Nigerian society.

For example, in contradictions of the usual claims that Nigerian lawmakers and corruption are like Siamese twins, the Saraki led 8th Senate helped to institutionalise the war against graft with the passage of bills like the National Financial Intelligence Agency Act. The bill resulted in the creation of an autonomous Financial Intelligence Unit and the re-admission of the Nigeria into the Egmont Group, thus giving the country access to information relating to financial investigations in the 152 member countries of the group.

The Senate got commendations from the Financial Intelligence Database Agency (ultrative by the NFIA preventing governors from accessing local government funds and banning banks from allowing transactions from State and Local Government Joint Account without monies first reaching the accounts of the particular local government are some of the gains of the NFIA law.

There is also the Proceeds of Crime bill, which has now led to Nigeria’s admission as a full member of the Financial Task Force. Nigeria was the second African country to be admitted as a full member by the Task Force before now, courtesy of the bill.

The Federal Audit Services Commission bill, also passed by the Senate empowers the office of the Auditor General of the Federation to ensure that government agencies comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act in the management of public funds and to ensure timely submission of their audited accounts to the Auditor General of the Federation for scrutiny. The bill was mooted in response to the discovery by the Senate that many agencies of government were not submitting their financial reports to the office of the Auditor-General for auditing purposes.

Other bills passed by the Saraki-led Senate to make the anti-corruption agencies more efficient, and in aid of the fight against corruption include the Whistleblowers Protection bill, which seeks to ensure that whistleblower activities are protected under the law; Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act which sought to among other things identify, trace, freeze, restrain, recover, forfeit and confiscate proceeds, property and other instrumentalities of crime; Witness Protection bill, which is geared at encouraging witnesses of crimes, especially organised crimes, terrorism or other crimes to come forward and assist government and its agencies by offering protection to witnesses willing to provide information, and evidence for the purpose of ensuring proper investigation.

Game changing bills

The Senate under Saraki also cooperated with the Executive in the implementation of   the National Action Plans on Ease of Doing Business with the passage of critical bills that led to improved ranking for Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business Report Ranking.

One of such landmark legislation was the Companies and Allied Matters Bill, CAMA, described as the most comprehensive review of laws that guide business activities in this country in the past 30 years. The Senate also passed the Bankruptcy and Insolvency (Repeal and Reenactment) Act and the Credit Reporting Act.

Another landmark legislation by the upper chamber of the National Assembly under Saraki’s leadership was the popular Not Too Young To Run bill, which reduces the age qualifications for running for public offices in the country. The age reduction amendment  alters Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 Constitution, reducing  the age requirement for running for Senate and governorship from 35 to 30 years, House of Representatives and House of Assembly from 30 to 25 years, and office of the President from 40 to 30.

The eventually signing of the bill into law enabled many young Nigerians to run in the 2019 general elections with many being elected as lawmakers at the national and state levels. Nicholas Felix, the 37-year-old, second runner-up in the 2019 presidential election, would have been barred from participating in the poll on account of his age without the bill. Other presidential candidates below 40 years also took advantage of the Act to run in the 2015 general elections.

Also, courtesy of the bill, 26-year-old Tajudeen Adefisoye of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, contested and won the Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency election in Ondo State.

“The Not Too Young To Run Act enhanced youth participation and political representation in the 2019 elections by reducing the age limits for elective offices, broadening democratic space and further consolidating democracy in Nigeria,” a former Ethiopian Prime Minister and Head, African Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria, Hailemariam Deselegn, said while lauding the Act for enhancing youth participation in democracy in Nigeria.

Also, the Senate in April, 2017, passed the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 (Amendment) bill 2017 into law. The bill, which was one of those not assented to by the President made provision for electronic voting method to eradicate electoral malpractices as well as to ensure easier, more transparent and faster electoral process across the nation. Critics believe that the introduction of the electronic voting will lead to improvement in Nigeria’s electoral system. It was therefore believed that the 9th Senate will revive the bill.

Other major bills passed by the 8th Senate include the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions (Prohibition) bill, which proposes a jail-term of up to five years but not less than two years for perpetrators. The passage of the bill followed a motion on May 30, 2018, on the increasing incidents of sexual harassment in Nigeria’s higher institutions of learning. The case of Miss Monica Osagie, an Obafemi Awolowo University student, who had named a lecturer in a ‘sex-for-grades’ allegation led to the motion and intervention by the Senate.

Also, the Senate ensured the implementation of the budgetary provision for healthcare by passing a clause in the 2018 budget to set aside 1percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF, for the provision of primary healthcare in the country. This has led to the provision of additional funds to enable over 180 million Nigerians have access to healthcare services.

Another outstanding bill passed by the Senate was the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) bill 2018, which was meant to take care of the interests of over 25 million persons living with disabilities in the country. The bill, originally sponsored by a House of Representatives member was signed into law by President Buhari in January 2019.

Among others, the Act prohibits all forms of discrimination on grounds of disability and imposes fine of N1 million for corporate bodies and N100,000 for individuals or a term of six months imprisonment for violation. It also provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobile are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs.

In addition, the Act mandates all public organisations to reserve at least five per cent of employment opportunities for these persons. It also establishes in Section 31, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities with Executive Secretary as the head.

Some of the other bills passed by the Senate include the Petroleum Industry Governance bill, 2016, Terrorism bill, 2015 Gender and Equal Opportunities bill, 2015, National Minimum Wage Act (Amendment) bill, 2015, National Broadcasting Commission Act (Amendment) bill, 2015 and the North East Development Commission bill, 2015.

In response to the calls for the improvement of the policing system in the country, with a view to making it more effective and efficient, the Senate between January and April 2019 embarked on a process of reviewing the Police Act. The review led to the passage of the Police Reform bill and the Nigeria Police Trust Fund bill.

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Interventions for public good

Right from its first sitting, the 8th Senate indicated that it will not be a mere onlooker on issues affecting citizens, hence, its various interventions on everyday issues affecting Nigerians as they occur during its plenary session.

For example, the intervention of the Senate in August 2015 led to the abolition of fixed charges by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on electricity consumption and bulk metering of villages. The move followed complaints that the fixed charges which the electricity distribution levied as part of their tariffs were exploitative as consumers were made to pay them even when they were not supplied electricity.

Also, in 2015, the Senate’s resolution on fraud in the management of the Treasury Single Account, TSA, helped to save the country of N25 billion.

In 2016, the Senate intervened to stem the humanitarian crisis brought about by insurgency in the North East with a decision to allocate N10 billion in the annual budget to alleviate the suffering of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in the region.

Also, in May 2016, investigation by the Senate led to the discovery of N447 billion in the import duty waivers scheme on rice, following which the Red Chamber asked its Ad-Hoc Committee on Import Duty Waivers to investigate the matter.

Senate’s investigation of alleged fraud in the management of the humanitarian crisis in the North East ultimately led to the dismissal of Babachir Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, for the misappropriation of N200 million meant for IDPs. The former SGF is now being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Also, the Senate intervened through a Point of Order and a subsequent Motion to stop a proposed hike in prices of data by the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, while investigation initiated by the Senators led to indictment of many of the agencies of the Federal Government for leakages, non-remittance and misuse of generated revenue.

Intervention by the Red Chamber in 2017 led to a review of foreign exchange allocation policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. This facilitated greater access to foreign exchange by the SMEs.

In the same vein, the investigation of the death of three students of Queens College Lagos – one of Nigeria’s Unity Schools by the Senate led to a comprehensive reform in the management of government owned educational institutions. It also ensured additional funds were included in the 2017 Appropriation bill to meet infrastructural challenges at Queens College and other Unity Schools.

To curb secret, illegal recruitment into the federal civil service, the Senate in August 2017 passed the Existing Vacancies in the Federal Civil Service (Prohibition) bill.

The Red Chamber also joined efforts to tackle the problem of drug abuse in the country with a two-day Roundtable on the drug use crisis in Nigeria held in Kano in 2017.

A major achievement of the roundtable was a BBC documentary, which highlighted the unregulated sale and distribution of Tramadol across the country.

The documentary led to a clamp down on illegal sale of tramadol by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, as well as the initiation of two important bills in the Senate: the National Drug Control bill and the National Mental Health bill.

In response to the worsening state of insecurity across the country, the Senate in February 2018 organised a National Security Summit which provided a platform for heads of military and paramilitary agencies to make submissions, which subsequently led to the collation of 20 recommendations made to the Executive on strategies for bolstering national security.

In the same vein, the Senate puts the problem of irregular migration and human trafficking of young Nigerians on the front burner of national discourse at a two-day Roundtable in Benin City, Edo State early 2018. The efforts of the lawmakers at the round table attended  by the Edo State government, traditional rulers, government agencies and international partners, led to the introduction of a number of strategies and initiatives in Edo State, and the country as a whole, towards curbing the problem.

Efforts by the Senate led to the suspension of a debilitating strike by the Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, after it entered the 44th day in 2018.

Transparency

It is also important to note that the Saraki led 8th Senate, unlike its predecessors, was not linked to any case of bribery or misappropriation in the procurement process.

The Senate President had during his inauguration in 2015 promised to run the affairs of the chambers with more transparency. The availability of the detailed Budget of the National Assembly alongside the Report of the annual Appropriation bill for public scrutiny for the first time since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 was in fulfillment of that promise.

The 8th Senate’s commitment to transparency and public scrutiny was demonstrated with the regular engagement of the chamber with the public in the process of conception, drafting and passage of bills.

The number of bills passed and the various interventions by the Senate, analysts say run against recent assertions that the 8th National Assembly has not been patriotic in its actions.

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