Senate suspends plenary for eight weeks

The Senate has suspended plenary for eight weeks to enable lawmakers embark on annual recess.

The Senate had postponed the recess by a week to screen and confirm the ministerial nominees sent in by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The lawmakers confirmed all the 43 appointees on Tuesday after they spent five days screening the nominees.

The prayer to adjourn plenary till September 24 was made by the Senate Leader, Mohammed Yayaha, after the screening and confirmation process.

Addressing the lawmakers, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, commended them for their sacrifice and “immediate response to a call for national duty”.

He said the Senate had demonstrated that it is set to work for Nigerians and “the National Assembly is prepared to take Nigeria to the next level.”

He urged the confirmed ministers to be prepared to work with the Senate.

“We are going engage them in our oversight and other legislative activities. What we want to achieve is to have a relationship that is based on mutual respect and truth.

“While we are not going to be frivolous, we are going to be firm, we are going to be serious with our oversight. Oversight is the only way we can ensure that the legislation we make particularly the budget that we pass is implemented particularly,” he said.

He also said the Senate is expected to face the budget and hoped that the 2020 Appropriation Bill will be presented by the end of September or first week of October.

“It is our determination and resolve that we are able to work on the budget and before Christmas we should be able to pass the budget provided it is in the National Assembly by September or first week of October.

“It is doable, it is achievable and we believe that Nigeria should return back to the January-Decemebr budget cycle – let our economy have predictable parameters.

“Our budget implementation is in chaos, in tatters. I believe that together with the executive (we can) return that which is predictable and good for business,” he said.

He thereafter, announced the chairpersons of 69 standing committees – after which the lawmakers adjourned.