The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday, assured Nigerians of the present administration’s resolve towards achieving the priorities set out in the N10.59 trillion 2020 Appropriation Act already signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, including development of public infrastructure, facilitate new investment and existing industries as well as provision of educational opportunities for Nigerians.
Rep Gbajabiamila, who gave the assurance while welcoming members to the 2020 legislative session, scored the House high in the areas of Executive-Legislature relations, citizen engagement and the timely passage of the Finance Act.
He also pledged the resolve of the House towards carrying out reforms in critical sectors of the economy including timely passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), amendment of the Electoral Act, as well as provide interventions toward addressing the challenges faced by the less abled and tackle the growing population of children out of school and Almajiri.
According to him, “there are a number of other initiatives we began in 2019 that require our continued commitment. These include efforts by the House to see to the full and profitable operation of the Warri, Port – Harcourt, Calabar, Onne and Onitsha Inland Ports; reforms of the power sector to ensure fairness in the billing system as well to allow for the development of an industry that is attractive to investment and capable of serving the best interests of the Nigerian people.
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“We will not relent in pursuing these goals, as creating economic opportunity for all our people helps us solve the other problems that threaten the continued viability of the Nigerian state.”
In the bid to achieve full implementation of the 2020 Appropriation Act, the Speaker tasked various Standing Committees to put necessary measures in place towards performing their oversight functions without compromise.
According to him, “passing the budget into law is merely the beginning. We now have a duty to ensure faithful compliance with the letter and spirit of the law by the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.
” We will carry out this responsibility and we will do so with integrity, taking pains to ensure that we leave no room for neither friends nor foes to find fault with our words or deeds.
“That Appropriation Act reflects the priorities of this government. These priorities are the same today as they have always been; to develop public infrastructure to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population, to facilitate investment in new and existing industries; to provide educational opportunities for all our people, and build an economy that allows every citizen to achieve their just ambitions.
“Our role as legislators is to ensure that the agencies responsible for implementing this budget maintain fidelity to these priorities. We will not be afraid to hold people’s feet to the fire where necessary. Where it is required of us that we act to review and update legislation, we will do so too. We will not act alone; we will not be arbitrary in our interventions. We will seek collaboration as a matter, of course, so that our interventions do not exacerbate existing problems or create new ones.
“In this new year, this House will further take all necessary action to pass into law the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and to implement the much needed and long-delayed reforms of the sector. It is an unavoidable truth that the oil and gas industry is integral to the economic life of Nigeria. Achieving efficient operation in this sector is, therefore, a matter of national survival.
“We cannot allow these much-needed and too long-delayed reforms to continue to be hostage to the privileged interests of a few or the myopic considerations of those whose interests are served by the status quo. We will seek reform, we will achieve reform, and we will do so in collaboration with the executive, with stakeholders in the industry and with those communities that most directly bear the highest costs of our exploration and sale of fossil fuels.”
While speaking on the need for electoral reforms, Gbajabiamila urged relevant stakeholders to shun political affiliations in the bid to address some of the emerging issues in the political scene.
“We have just emerged from an elections season that for its numerous successes, nonetheless exposed significant gaps in the process that if left unaddressed, threaten our democracy. Electoral reforms are not a party political issue, they are a matter of loyalty to an ideal that is greater than the party to which one belongs to, or the personal ambitions we may each hold.
“Electoral reforms are a matter of our nation’s future, and I ask of you all that when the time comes to achieve the reforms we need, we do so with the utmost commitment to fairness and equity, respect for the rule of law and with abiding hope for a better future for all our people.”
While reflecting on the prevailing security challenges across the country, the Speaker condemned in strong terms the activities of bandits who embarked on the destruction of communities, kidnappers operating for-profit and insurgents seeking to remake our world in the image of a discredited theocracy.
According him, “people of conscience mourn the loss of a reverend and a senior member of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Adamawa State, Mr Lawan Adimi, a good and honourable man, who through the church and in his personal capacity served the people of his community earning their reverence and our collective gratitude. In the midst of our mourning, our hearts were broken once more by the release of a video depicting the gruesome assassination of Mr Ropvil Dalep Daciya, a student from Plateau State who was abducted by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on his way back to school at the University of Maiduguri.
“God forbid that it is now our nation’s fate to live forever under the threat of abduction and murder. What gaps and weaknesses continue to exist in the national security infrastructure that makes us more susceptible to the machinations of those who seek to achieve wealth and power through brutal violence? How do we achieve for all our people, a just and honourable peace?
“These questions are never too far from my mind, and I know that it is the same for you too because often it is you who are at the frontlines responding to the concerns of constituents who have themselves been victimised and those who fear that the moment of their own affliction is only a matter of time and circumstance.
“Honourable colleagues, this House will shortly take action to put these questions before those agencies of our national security to whom our constitution and other legislation have granted the powers and the resources to ensure the safety and security of all our people.
“Our cup of endurance has run over and we are no longer willing to labour under these dark clouds of random violence inflicted upon our people by faceless cowards whose ends we do not understand, and whose means we do not know.
“Overcoming our overwhelming national security challenges now requires of us all that we be willing to accept new approaches and consider novel ideas.
“Neither the security institutions nor political leaders can afford to hold on too tightly to a status quo whose frustrating limitations are painfully evident, whilst reflexively rejecting innovations that may improve our fortunes if properly implemented.
“Recently, the Governors of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo states took action to implement a regional security network to support the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in preventing crime and protecting the lives and property of those our citizens who live, work and travel through these states.
“The establishment of Àmòtékùn, as the network is called, has met with commentary from across the country, both for and against. Too often, it has seemed to me that lost in these interactions is the hard, brutal and unavoidable fact that Àmòtékùn and other such state or zonal interventions that already quietly exist in other parts of the country are a desperate response to the vile manifestations of insecurity that trouble the lives of citizens, depriving them of the peace and security that gives life meaning.
“I do not know that Àmòtékùn or whatever iterations of it may follow represents the ultimate or perfect solution to the problem of insecurity in our country. Nobody does that. What I do know with absolute clarity and certainty is that the localised manifestations of insecurity across the different parts of our country call for unique and localised approaches that take those peculiarities into account.
“What I also know, is that whichever approach we seek, we are obligated to work within the limits imposed by the constitution to which we all swear allegiance. Above all else, I am certain in the knowledge that doing nothing is not an option. We have a responsibility as legislators to support the best efforts of those who act with noble intent to protect our citizens.
“I, therefore, call on the Leader of the House of Representatives and the Minority Leader to take active steps to bring to the floor, appropriate amendments to the Constitution that will ensure that these and other righteous interventions to protect the life and property of our citizens are firmly in compliance with the laws of the land,” he urged.
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