Senate President Saraki sets up Ad Hoc Committee on National Assembly Budget

An 18 man Senate Ad Hoc Committee comprising of three Senators from each geopolitical zone has been set up to immediately draw up a legislative agenda for the 8th senate within a week.

The draft agenda is expected to be deliberated upon on the floor and will therefore give the Senate focus and cohesion in the pursuit of set targets.

The President of the Senate, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki who announced this today in his welcome speech on the lawmakers resumption from short recess charged his colleagues to get to work immediately in their bid to meet the demands of Nigerians.

"My fellow colleagues, I dare say to you, it is time for us to roll up the sleeves for history beacons. We must hold fast to the reason we were elected in the first place to listen to and fight for the concerns of our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers back home. We are the closest representation that they have to the federal system; hence, we must also be the most dogged-advocates of their demands." He said.

Senator Saraki again reiterated the need for the senate under him to operate more transparent policies, siting the wardrobe allowance issue which generated uproar last week. He enjoin other senators not to give room for doubts from Nigerians on their abilities to deliver on their campaign promises.

"In the last few days, we have seen the media awash with fictitious reports on wardrobe allowances for National Assembly members. The response to this report, which was not just false and malicious but also reckless at best, further emphasizes the need for us to run a more transparent National Assembly to avoid the attendant misinformation this type of mischief can bring.

" In the light of this, distinguished colleagues, and in keeping with our avowed commitment to lead from the frontline, I met last week with officials from the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the Statutory body with the remit to set salaries and allowances for both the Executive and the Legislature, to get accurate information on the true state of all salaries and allowances for members of the National Assembly. In the coming days after the leadership of the National Assembly is fully established, we shall be setting up an adhoc committee to reappraise the structure of the National Assembly budget, make it more open, and ensure that the entire budget is in line with economic realities." Said the senate president.

Senator Saraki reminded the senators of the legislative challenges ahead and urge them to exhibit high sense of patriotism, maturity and unconditional commitment to the course of change which the country is clamouring for.

"We must see the challenges we face today also as opportunity to look inwards to find answers to our developmental problems. All that we need is patriotism, maturity and unconditional commitment to the course of change. My distinguished colleagues, I believe we can make this nation Nigeria great again. But it all starts now if we all can believe." He concluded..