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NASS working to bring economy back on track — Senator Abdullahi

Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi on Wednesday said that the National Assembly would collaborate with the executive arm of government to work out ways of getting the economy back on track.

Senator Yahaya who stated this while speaking at the inaugural meeting of the House Committee on National Planning lamented that Nigeria was facing the worst economic crisis since Independence.

He pointed out that the committees of National Planning in both the House and the Senate should ensure that they work hand and hand in the next four years to achieve the set target of turning around the nation’s economy while advising the executive on the way forward.

He warned against any mistake on the part of the parliament that may compound the already precarious economic situation in the country, adding that the parliament must be able to guide the executive on how to get out of the quagmire.

Senator Abdullahi said that both committees will soon convene a joint meeting of both committees to enable them to discuss their agenda of working together in the overall interest of the country.

In his own remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on National Planning, Hon Ibrahim Ayokunle Isiaka said that the committees would only succeed in their assignment if they worked together and reinforced one another as a team.

The lawmakers explained that National planning involved the process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish the national goals.

He said there was the need to “roll our sleeves and tighten the belts for the tasks ahead in the spirit of nationalism and patriotism, adding that the Committee would join hands with all well-meaning stakeholders to create and bequeath indicators that would be adjudged one of the best in this 10th Assembly.

Isiaka assured that the Committee would embark on inter-governmental and budget reforms of the multi-faceted and interlinked nature of sustainable development, which calls for interventions to be tackled simultaneously through a coordinated approach for reversing the declining economy, stabilising the polity and integrating the various societal interests all with a view to enhancing national development.

He disclosed that currently, there was a mixed reaction among various stakeholders including scholars, the media and some members of the private sector but, our Committee would do its best to bridge the gaps between the euphoria and skepticism about this concern.

According to him, “For all of us as a committee, the executives and bureaucrats, our cooperation framework shall detail not only how we can work together but, we shall work together.”

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