Buhari signs 15 bills into law in one year, assures of robust synergy with NASS – Hon el-Yakub

No fewer than 15 harmonised bills passed by the 9th Assembly have so far been signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, including Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Nigeria Police Act, Banks and other Financial Institution Act (BOFIA), Plant Varieties Protection Act, among others.

Senior Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly, (House of Representatives), Hon. Umar el-Yakub who disclosed this during a press briefing to commemorate the end of the Second Legislative Year of the 9th session of the National Assembly, assured that the President will sign into law the Petroleum Industry Bill, 2021 recently passed by both Chambers when communicated, while awaiting harmonisation of the electoral bill which seeks to regulate the conduct of federal, state and area councils in the federal capital territory elections and for other related matters.

“I can tell you within the last session which they just went on break for, 15 bills were assented by Mr. President and of course other bills were transmitted and I can’t give you the exact number of the bills that have been transmitted. Which I think is a commendable thing.

“On the first part of your question let me just say that indeed this President has respect for separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution.

“And of course I just made a point to the fact that the President had to give directives that his Ministers and MDAs must honor invitations of the National Assembly, not only in budget defense but in all cases. The invitation you are referring to, of course the President respects their rights to that invitation and certainly.

“There was a change of thinking by the leadership, otherwise the President would have been there for the briefing, which is I’m sure you remember the Service Chiefs were invited and they came to the National Assembly, because they felt that before they invite the President they needed to have a broader explanation and in the event that the National Assembly felt it’s very important to invite the president I’m sure he will honour the invitation because he has respect for them,” he noted.

He observed that effective constructive engagement between the Executive and Legislature will yield positive results, adding that “the benefit of good relationship is clearly seen.

“One of this is in the budget cycle when you do a budget and implement it, especially looking at the capital component of the budget, you’ll find out that numerous infrastructural projects around the country, some of which have been realized because they have been put to use, like in the rail and road infrastructure and indeed the hospital infrastructure; others are ongoing and would be completed before the end of the year, some next year and certainly beyond the life of this administration.

“They are certainly going to change things for the better because jobs will be created. Even though there is certainly suffering in the land, God willing, with the development in infrastructure, because infrastructure development brings about economic development because you find that the most you open up your space, the more you create the right infrastructure in education, in health, in roads, in rails, you have a lot of people even from construction stages are engaged and therefore are given job opportunity to work. A lot of Nigerian youths are engaged in such construction projects.”

While noting that there has been unprecedented social investment programmes ongoing across the country, Hon. el-Yakub noted that through these social investment projects, “monies are put in the hands of entrepreneurs across the country to be able to be self-employed and create jobs for other people.

“I assure you that some of these projects there effects will not be felt in a short while, when the projects are completed; those that are in the pipeline are brought to bare, you will see significant improvements in the lives of Nigeria and Nigerians. And of course, you will find out that some of these projects have multiplier effects.

“I believe Nigerians have seen the commitment of the president to addressing all these challenges, which is why he, on his own, could admit that there are issues and we are working to fix the issues.

“Let me say that there is no perfect law and we all know that the exigencies of the moment determine the actions that people take. Some of the laws, as you know, just as I had mentioned, like the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill; there exists an electoral act but it is in the wisdom of the lawmakers and those that sponsored the bill, that there need to be some amendments to that act.

“And because there exists in the legislative process, a framework that can be used to make amendments, that law is being amended. So, I believe that any law that we have today can be subjected to amendments in the future, depending on the circumstances and exigencies of that moment.

“I certainly would not canvass for a rough relationship because a rough relationship does not deliver results. Both the Executive and the Legislature are supposed to be responsible leaders. They were elected by the Nigeria people to come and collaborate and work for them.

“Like I said, we operate one government with various arms. There are three arms of government and three tiers along the line, and we are all supposed to work for the orderliness and good governance of this country. We are supposed to be partners in nation-building. We can certainly disagree. The legislature has a responsibility to oversight the Executive, which, by the way, Mr. President recognises and respects.

“Let me also quickly say that there are also areas of differences and disagreements. For instance, the Supplementary Act that the President just assented to, it was not what the executive brought that was finally approved by the National Assembly; there were changes.

“But the President went ahead and assented because he recognised they have the right to make those changes. So, what is important is, we disagree to agree on a common platform for the common good of the Nigerian people who elected the government into power.”

On the recently passed Supplementary budget, Hon. El-Yakub observed that the Supplementary Appropriation Act focused on security and health.

He observed that the feat achieved through the return of the budget cycle to January – December has enabled the administration to fully implement the 2020 Appropriation, adding that: “We have achieved this milestone and achievement, culminating into so many programmes and initiatives of government policies that have been actualised.

“I made bold to mention and also commend the leadership of the National Assembly for returning the budget cycle of January to December.

“That was achieved primarily because of this cooperation between the Executive and Legislative arms of government and for the benefit of Nigerians.

“Now we have a budget that has been implemented fully in 2020 and we are hoping to have the same in 2021, 2022 and 2023 God willing budgets that are being implemented on time because the impacts it has on our economy and social well-being of Nigerians,” he noted.

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