8 reasons why Ahmed Lawan says 9th Assembly best since 1999

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BY FATI MUSA MARTE, DECEMBER 16, 2021 | 04:25 PM

Sen. Ahmad Lawan, Senate President of Nigeria has said the present national assembly is the most successful assembly in the history of the country since the return to civil rule in 1999.

The senate president said this at the first distinguished parliamentarians' lecture series facilitated by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies held on Monday in Abuja.

According to Ola Awoniyi, the senate president's spokesperson, said his spoke on 'the legislature, legislative mandate and the people - the reality and the public perception,' wherein he made this disclosure.

'I dare say that the Ninth Assembly has been the most successful in the area of lawmaking since 1999.

'We have broken many 'jinxes' and done many 'firsts,' overcoming traditional obstacles through consensus building and clever political brinkmanship,' Lawan said.

Below are some of the reasons given by the senate president and summarized by our reporter:

  1. As of November 2021, about 2, 500 Bills have been introduced in the National Assembly - 769 in the Senate and 1,634 in the House of Representatives.

He explained that President Muhammadu Buhari has granted assent to more bills, based available data on gazetted acts. It showed that between 2015 and 2021, President Buhari had assented to more than 84 bills, the highest since 1999.

President Olusegun Obasanjo signed a total of 82 between 1999 and 2006, President Umaru Yar'Adua signed 38 between 2007 and 2009 while President Goodluck Jonathan signed 40 between 2010 and 2915.

'Without sounding immodest, we have equally concluded work on several other important pieces of legislations that have been signed into law, all of which have the potential to significantly enhance various aspects of our national life,' Lawan said.

  1. The Finance Act 2020 successfully amended 17 key aspects of the extant laws including seven existing tax laws.

  2. The CAMA 2020 Act, also represents a landmark achievement representing the first time in thirty years that this law has been updated.

The Act introduces measures to ensure efficiency in the registration and regulation of corporate vehicles, reduce the compliance burden of small and medium enterprises SMEs, enhance transparency and stakeholders' engagement in corporate vehicles and, overall, promote a more friendly business climate.

  1. The Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Amendment Act 2019, which we passed and was assented to by the President gives effect to fiscal incentives given to Oil and Gas companies operating in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin areas under production sharing contracts between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC or other companies holding oil prospecting licences OPL or oil mining leases OML and various petroleum exploration and production companies.

This will, he said, significantly increase Nigeria's earnings from oil wells located deep offshore and give it a fair and equitable share of income derived from its natural resources.

  1. Other bills of great economic significance that have been passed by the National Assembly and awaiting Presidential Assent include the Public Procurement Act 2007 Amendment Bill, Recovery of Public Property Bill and the Amendment of Assets Management Corporation Act, among others.

  2. The Electoral Act (2010) Amendment Bill. Once operational, the law will strengthen our electoral process and further reinforce public confidence in democratic institutions, especially the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

  3. The 9th Assembly has also successfully pushed for a return to the January to December budget cycle.

This was made possible, according to the senate president, by a successful collaboration between the President and members of the executive who have, since 2019, ensured early preparation and presentation of the budget.

  1. Response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the assembly took on the challenge heads-on and adopted legislative measures to cushion the effects of the pandemic on Nigerians, mitigate its consequences, limit its spread and improve the efficiency of the country’s health system to cope with the unprecedented challenges.

‘We gave expeditious consideration and passage for the Revised 2020 budget to tackle COVID and only recently approved the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper FSP.

‘The National Assembly is working to consider the 2022 Budget Appropriation Bill within this legislative week,' Lawan said.


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