Saraki To Tinubu: Dwell On Facts In Spite Of Your Smear Campaign And Hatred For Me

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki has said that it is most unfortunate that a man like Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who had been in the Senate (though for 22 months and under a military regime) should not have a better understanding of how the legislature works.

Saraki, who was responding to what he described as the quarterly attacks on him by Tinubu, explained that the passage of budgets is definitely not the exclusive responsibility of the leadership of the Senate, stressing that most of the work is done by the various committees.

The Senate President explained that the committees are headed by Senators representing different parties, adding that it is the level of co-operation between the committees and the MDAs in the timely defence of the budget proposals and the ability of the two chambers of the National Assembly to reconcile their figures that usually determine how soon the budget is passed.

In the words of Saraki; “To put the blame of budget delay on the Senate President or Speaker can only be mischief, or at best, playing to the gallery.
“It is also a known fact that any so-called delay in the passage of budgets under the Eighth National Assembly is traceable to the refusal of heads of MDAs to defend the budget proposals for their agencies on time.

“Last year, the President himself had to direct the Secretary to Federal Government to compel heads of MDAs to appear before the National Assembly committees following the report made to him by Dr. Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

“So, if a man like Tinubu is spreading this falsehood about budget passage and delay being deliberately orchestrated by the National Assembly leadership, one wonders whether he tries to even understand what happens in the federal legislature at all or is that the only thing that is of interest to him is “jockeying and maneuvering for influence”, as he puts it.”

These were contained in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, in which he also said that Dr. Saraki as a leader of the Eighth National Assembly, is proud that under his watch, the Senate surpassed the records of all previous Senate in the number of bills passed.

He explained that the significance of the bills to the revival of the economy, the fight against insecurity and corruption, improvement in the provision of health service and the education sector, as well as better social service delivery to the generality of the people are enormous.

He further said; “The bills passed, motions moved, intervention made and frequent engagement with the people were all directed towards addressing the day to day issues that affect the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.

“This Senate has passed 282 bills (the highest any Senate had passed is 129 bills recorded by the 5th Senate), among which is the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, Public Procurement Act (amendment) Bill, Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Electoral Act (amendment) Bill, Police Reform Bill, Police Trust Fund Bill, Nigeria Railways Authority Bill, Company and Allied Matters Act (amendment) Bill, Secured Credit Transactions Act, Whistleblowers Protection Bill, constitution amendment bills, Discrimination Against Persons With Disability Bill, Electronic Transaction Bill, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, North East Development Commission (NEDC) Act, Witness Protection Programme Bill, Credit Bureau Reporting Bill, Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institution Bill and Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill, National Financial Intelligence Agency Act, Federal Audit Services Commission Bill, among others.

“It will be good to know which of these Bills Tinubu believes is “self interested” and not in the interest of Nigerians?”