Senate promises holistic reform for Nigerians

The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has reaffirmed Senate’s commitment to delivering a holistic legislative reform in the country.

He said at a special session to mark the second anniversary of the 8th Senate on Friday in Abuja that the activities of the upper chamber had been rough, the lawmakers had remained undaunted.

Saraki told the senators that “together, we have walked through the turbulence and in the last two years shown that with determination and courage of conviction we can get the job done.

“I am here to tell you that your sacrifices have not been in vain.

“Your steadfastness has paid dividend and if we keep at it, we will be delivering very soon to the Nigerian people a holistic legislative reform package that would see us enter a new era of prosperity.’’

“The reform will be built upon a solid legal foundation that will transform our economy, deepen our democracy, close our infrastructure deficit, grow and add millions of new jobs and help activate enterprise and reward innovation.”

He said the senate unveiled and pursued self-developed economic reform agenda to aid the ease of doing business in Nigeria and create new frameworks for creating jobs and improving Nigeria’ ranking in the global competitiveness index.

According to him, we have passed Bills that will see to the reformation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Railway Corporation, among others.

“The Security and Exchange Commission are other critical general market regulatory structures that we have undertaken and are working very hard to pass through a well-orchestrated and comprehensive legislative policy framework.

“This will enable the Nigerian market join the League of Nations and compete favourably as a destination for foreign direct investment and for ease of doing business.’’

Saraki said that those were done because to create employment quickly and give more opportunities to our people, there was need to rid the country of old and obsolete laws and enact new ones.

He commended his colleagues for the “great lawmaking environment that is empowering and genuinely fraternal and less divisive’’.

He said such situation had enabled the lawmakers to focus more on the work than on politics, ensuring that Nigerians were the ultimate beneficiaries of their time and energy.

“We can be rest assured that though it may take a while to gestate, the initiatives we have started here will endure and bloom – from the made-in-Nigeria initiative to infrastructure renewal framework and access to finance.

“All of these will come together to lay the new foundation on which the Nigerian economy for the better part of the 21st century will be built,” he said.

He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that the government was sincerely disposed to turning things around but in a much more enduring manner.

“Let us pray to God to grant our president full recovery and give him the fortitude to continue to pilot the affairs of state in the vision he has started with’’.