Senate leadership: Every senator will count under my watch – Lawan

Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, says, every senator will count under his watch as President of the Senate in the ninth assembly.
Lawan, who represents the All Progressives Congress in the Yobe North Senatorial District, gave the assurance when he appeared on News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja.

He said:  “We believe that we should be able to work together regardless of our political platforms. Every senator will count because every senator represents a senatorial district.
“My interactions with most of the senators-elect across all the parties have shown that we have people of experience, people of character and commitment elected into the ninth senate.

“And I want to harness the potentials, the experience of every one. Therefore, we will need to have some serious understandings between us regardless of our political parties.
“We need to achieve that unity and remain committed and focused in ensuring that we deliver what is expected of us as legislature.”
The lawmaker also said that the relationship between the upper and the lower houses in the National Assembly would be strengthened to deliver the needed service for the country’s development.

He said: “Because we run a bicameral arrangement, the Senate and the House must work together.
“We all know that no law becomes a law before it leaves the National Assembly, without the concurrence of the two chambers, before it reaches the executive arm of government or the president for assent.
“So we need to work together.”

Lawan, who acknowledged that opposition parties in the ninth assembly had a sizeable number, said to get the work done, cooperation among all parties would also be needed.
He said: “So we believe that we have to be together in the senate. Let me say that the APC has the majority but the PDP has over 40 senators-elect as opposition and YPP has one.

“This is to tell you that any serious commitment to ensuring that there is significant inclusion and contributions by the legislature, especially the senate, to governance from the 9th assembly will require the cooperation and partnerships among the various parties represented.”

According to him, I also believe that we have to have a decent and good cordial working relationship between the two arms of government.
He said: “I have seen what sour or bad relationship or broken or disconnected relationship can really do and what it does is to damage or dislocate governance.
“I have also witnessed how a cordial relationship, a relationship based on mutual respect, on partnership, on cooperation between the two arms of government, particularly how it makes governance, how it makes service delivery by government to the citizens easier,  better and faster.

“So, we have consciously chosen that we will work with the executive arm of government in a very cordial fashion because we believe it is the best way to go.
“We want Nigerians to benefit from their decision to elect us.”
He said since elected leaders were expected to represent the interest of the electorate, both the legislature and executive must work together “to ensure that we deliver on those necessities that citizens require in Nigeria”.
He added: “I believe that the ninth senate, with this kind of foresight, will be a darling of Nigerians because all Nigerians want to see is for government to work for them.

“And we are prepared to work with the executive arm of government to work for Nigerians.”