The Senate on Wednesday received a report of its ad-hoc committee on the 9th Senate Legislative Agenda. Chairman of the committee, Senator Adamu Mohammad Aliero (Kebbi Central) presented the report.

The consideration and adoption of the report are slated for Thursday. This is to enable Senators time to read and digest the report for effective contributions during its debate.

Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, at the election, had promised to fashion a legislative agenda to guide the effective performance of Senators.

Senator Aliero listed youth empowerment to curb the increasing number of youth unemployment, poverty alleviation to ensure that 100 million Nigerians are lifted out of poverty in the next four years as part of the plank of the agenda.

Aliero also listed legislative framework to tackle the phenomenon of out of school children in the country, creation of special health centres in the six geopolitical zones and reduction of acute housing deficit in the country.

The Kebbi Central senator also listed fashioning legislative measures to further enhance gender equality, infrastructure deficit, increase agricultural production, fast-tracking the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and holistic reform of the oil and gas sector as other parts of the agenda.

He said the Senate will also work to further block revenue leakages, back anti-corruption, make procurement processes less cumbersome.

He highlighted the Open NASS policy, where the budget of the National Assembly will be in the public glare.

By throwing open the budget of the National Assembly, Nigerians will know that we have nothing to hide, Aliero said.

Senate to pass PIB before end of 2020

The Senate President however called for deep reform of the petroleum industry.

He said, “Our petroleum industry is almost stagnant and for long needing profound reform. Our oil and gas-related committees are therefore expected to work hard to take the lead in our determination to reform this vital sector. It is the desire, indeed the design of this Senate that, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed before the end of 2020.

“The security architecture of our country has not achieved the desired results of providing the needed security to our citizens. Our security agencies need better funding and other resources for better performance.

“As security is a fundamental responsibility of government, no amount of investment is too much. Our security-related committees are therefore challenged to assess and review both the architecture and structure of our security agencies towards improved efficiency.”