Continued from Monday, April 7
Meanwhile, the Senate had intervened on “the travails of one Miss Chinyere Ekwe and 290 other students who were admitted to study medicine and surgery at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, but had their admission truncated on the order of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB, for no plausible reasons, after they had completed the admission processes and resumed lectures”. Consequently, amendments to the JAMB Act have since commenced.
And by way of accelerating actions against the prevailing threats to food security, the Senate, in its second quarter, vigorously pursued the compelling goal of elevating agriculture as a valid option for oil and gas in national income earning.
As boosts, several bills were introduced in favour of the National Food Reserve Agency, National Food Safety and Management Council and Nigeria Tea Development Authority, Donkey Slaughter Regulation and Export Certification, National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act and Cassava Flour (Mandatory Inclusion into Flour Production) in addition to 9 separate bills on Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act.
Others included the Federal University of Agriculture, Dambatta, Federal College of Crop Science and Food Technology, Lere, Kaduna State, Federal College of Agriculture and Tropical Studies Efon Alaye, Ekiti State, Federal University of Agriculture and Entrepreneur, Bama and Federal University of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe State.
And again, through a motion on “the Outbreak of a Deadly Disease Affecting Ginger Production in Southern Kaduna, Kaduna State”, the Senate collaborated with the National Agricultural Quarantine Services, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the National Emergency Management Agency for urgent solutions.
Then conscious of the place of health in national development, the Senate commenced thirteen separate amendments to the Federal Medical Centre Act, two to the Federal Orthopaedic Hospitals Act and one to the Nigerian Medical Research Council Act.
Also, it initiated bills for the establishment of the Tertiary Hospital Trust Fund, Federal College of Health Technology, Song, Adamawa State, Waste Management and Malaria Eradication Agency, National Eye Centre, Doma, Federal University of Health Sciences and Technology, Kankia, Health Infrastructure Development Agency, Terminal Illness Trust Fund, Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Kaduna, Federal Paediatric Centre, Maiduguri, Federal University Lafia Teaching Hospital, David Umahi University of Health Sciences, Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Egbe, Kogi State and Medical Physics Regulatory Council of Nigeria.
Again and conscious that a productive youth populace is the heartbeat of any nation, the Senate, through a motion on “the Menace of Drug Abuse in Nigeria, proffered “solutions to drug abuse and associated problems” with a call on “the federal government to declare a national emergency on drugs and narcotic and substance abuse in Nigeria”.
Cumulatively, bills to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Act and the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) Act as well as those for establishing the National Youth Development Agency and the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund were presented.
Further to its commitment to facilitating governance, the Senate during the second quarter screened and confirmed other presidential nominees added to those mentioned earlier.
They included Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim (Kwara), Balarabe Abbas Lawal (Kaduna) and Mr Ayodele Olawande (Ondo) as ministers-designate, Chairman and Members of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Aminu Maidu as Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Mr. Zacch Adedeji as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, 20 Commissioners for the National Population Commission, Mrs. Delu Bulus Yakubu as National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency.
She was later replaced by Mrs. Halima Shehu upon another round of screening and confirmation.
The Senate approved the 2024-2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) culminating in the timely passage of the 2024 budget (after increasing it from N27.5 to N28.7 trillion) and yet another 2023 supplementary budget before extending the lives of the 2023 statutory and supplementary budgets to March 31, 2024.
Also, it approved the presidential request for the securitization of outstanding N7.3 trillion ways and means debt balance on the Consolidated Revenue Fund and then passed the budget of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund. Other legislation passed during the period included the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti (Establishment), the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Amendment Act, as well as the
Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act (repeal and re-enactment) and two separate Electricity Act amendments which were for concurrence having been passed by the House of Representatives.
Those at the committee stages respectively are the Constituency and Other Special Projects (Establishment),
Environmental Impact Assessment Act (Repeal and Enactment), Federal College of Aviation Technology, Ilara-Remo, Ogun State (Establishment), Federal University of Health Sciences and Technology, Tsafe, Zamfara, (Establishment) and the Federal College of Geological and Cement Studies, Iselu, Yewa-North, Ogun State (Establishment).
Then added to the variously highlighted bills, others considered during the period included the National Biomedical and Hazardous Waste Management Agency, (Establishment), Environmental Restoration Agency (Establishment), National Broadcasting Commission Act (Repeal and Amendment), National Population Commission Act, Federal Housing Authority Act, Federal Lands Registry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and the Nigerian Real Estate Industry (Regulation and Development).
From the foregoing, it bears repeating that if only the executive could objectively evaluate legislative interventions, integrated and sustainable developments would be guaranteed in Nigeria.
Concluded
Egbo is a parliamentary affairs analyst
