Mark, in a welcome address to his colleagues during the resumption of plenary on Tuesday said that Nigeria would not disintegrate after the general election.
He stated that as distinguished senators, the lawmakers have a role to play in ensuring that Nigeria conducted peaceful general election, adding that notwithstanding the anxiety in some quarters Nigerians should remain confident that the country would survive.
He said: “We are all leaders and I know that we will work towards peace and harmony. Our nation will not disintegrate after the elections!”
The Senate President also regretted the increasing wave of violence and terrorism in the country, which has resulted in the loss of several lives. He asked Nigerians to support the military to defeat the terrorists.
He further said: “We must support our armed forces and other security operatives to stop this evil. Bomb blasts are non-partisan in their destructive nature. Insecurity plagues all of us and must be tackled holistically. The armed forces and government must intensify efforts to rescue our young innocent Chibok girls.
“Government must do all it can to end this insurgency. This is a war that we must win and we will win!
“I commend the Senate and the entire National Assembly for their active roles in the fight against terrorism. I commend the relevant committees that have engaged various stakeholders.
“In particular, I commend members of the armed forces and other security agencies who risk their lives daily to protect our liberty, freedom and security.”
But the 2015 budget suffered a setback on Tuesday following the failure of the Committee on Finance to submit its report on the Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF) to the lawmakers.
The development dashed the hopes of kick starting the debate on the budget on Wednesday.
Though the report was listed for presentation, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, failed to present the report but asked for more time.
When the Senate President asked Makarfi to lay the report on the table, the Senator simply said that the revised MTEF/FSP had not been transmitted to the committee. He said that the committee would require more time to finalise the report.
While rounding off deliberations, Mark tasked his colleagues to be meticulous on the budget to make it realistic enough so that the nation can cope with the prevailing economic challenges.
He said: “The National Assembly is committed to the passage of the 2015 Budget. Before we do that however, we must allow for a deliberate, meticulous and exhaustive debate of the estimates.
“This is an important process which affords us the opportunity to make inputs for the common good of the people. I must emphasise that this is a constitutional responsibility of the National Assembly.
“In the face of declining oil prices, it is clear that our over-reliance on a mono-product is unhealthy and unsustainable.”
He asked the lawmakers to be realistic in handling the issue of oil benchmark, adding that the time has come for the country to diversify its resource base.
Source: Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment