Beyond the din, 8th Senate defines its focus

Next Thursday, June 9 will be the first anniversary of the 8th Senate. This is therefore a good period to critically examine the performance of the Upper Chamber of the federal legislature. There have been attempts by some people to define the  narrative of the performance based on the initial controversy arising from the politics […]

Next Thursday, June 9 will be the first anniversary of the 8th Senate. This is therefore a good period to critically examine the performance of the Upper Chamber of the federal legislature. There have been attempts by some people to define the  narrative of the performance based on the initial controversy arising from the politics of the emergence of its leadership. However,  It is clear that this Senate has more going for it beyond politics.
Early enough, members had settled down to business of defining how the law making chamber can be relevant and serve the interests of the constituents. Led by an experienced and brilliant public officer, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, it was clear to the lawmakers since their inauguration that the major challenges facing the country centred mainly on economic crisis which has resulted in youth unemployment, security problems, particularly insurgency in the North-east zone and pervading corruption which has eroded the confidence of the international community in Nigeria.
The Senators were quick to realise that their  relevance will be determined by the  ability of the institution to contribute to the resolution of the identified problems. Also, Senators understood that they can only make themselves relevant by tackling issues that have to do with people’s general welfare. Knowing that the economy is the sub-structure of the polity and in fact a key to solving some of the other challenges facing the country, they decided that legislations, oversights and advocacy that have to do with economic revival, revitalising businesses and creating employment should be given priority.
To achieve this, they engaged a team of experts from the World Bank Group, Department for International Development (DFID), the private sector,  professional bodies like the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), the academia and others. The task assigned to the experts was to identify existing laws that need to be reviewed and amended to bring them up to Global standards, old laws that should be repealed and new legislations that require enactment, all in a bid to help the economy grow.
The main concern, here, is the poor rating Nigeria continues to get annually in the World Bank  Ease of Doing Business Assessment Report. At least, it is a fact that investors will not go to a place where they cannot easily establish and operate their businesses at a profit. Also, the prevailing condition will kill big and small scale local entrepreneurs. And without these investments, employment cannot be created,  the economy cannot grow and government will not get money from other sources beyond oil whose price have continued to be on a downward slope.
The experts in their reports have identified 54 laws which need immediate attention to achieve the aim of making it easy for investors to establish and operate businesses in Nigeria. Their recommendations were later subjected to further debate and analysis through a business roundtable dialogue with stakeholders in public and private sectors.
The Senate has started acting on the 168-page report. First, the recommendations formed the core of the  Legislative Agenda which, though yet to be publicly launched, is already being implemented.  Second, the legislations recommended for review are now in various stages of law making process.
As at  today, the Senate has passed the Electronic Transaction Law 2015 and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law 2015. The new Railways Act which will enable the private sector invest and  participate in running a vibrant railways sector is in the last stage before being passed. It is gladdening that the 8th Senate is the one reviewing the almost a century old Railway Act. In fact, if not for the decision to constitute a committee of experts to review the work of the Senate committee on Land Transportation and help straighten the technical aspects, the Railway Act would have been passed.
Still on the economic revival plan, the Senate has revived the long-pending Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the plan is to break the old bill into several workable, practical and functional laws so that the various issues involved can be tackled at different times. It is calculated that the  logjam around this bill can be resolved if the Senate, for example, takes the first step of enacting into law the aspects that are not contentious and where national consensus has been achieved. These non-contentious codified aspects can immediately be deployed to effect the much needed reforms in the sector. The lawmakers can later proceed to work on the contentious areas through different bills. This is considered a more realistic approach, instead of having a humongous, all-purpose bill, which will continue to be bogged down by divergent interests. The first bill from the original PIB is now at the second reading stage.
The PIB is one of the 167 bills that have passed first reading stage. 39 others are in the Second Reading stage and 6 others are in the final stage of passage, which is the third reading. The reasoning of the Saraki-led Senate is that the earlier the Senate focus on bills that will transform the national economy, curb youth unemployment, eliminate insecurity and other social malaise and institutionalise social justice, the better for us all. This will prevent a situation where the Senators will desperately resort to rushing bills with little legislative value at the twilight period of their tenure as it happened in the past.
As part of its contributions to the economic revival agenda of government, the Senate has also expressed its commitment to frugal management of the meagre resources now available to the government after the drastic fall of the price of oil. It is reasoned that if the government can block the loopholes in its finances, diversify the source of revenue, be frugal and innovative in its spendings, Nigeria could convert the present economic downturn to advantage. That is why motions and resolutions in the Upper Legislative Chamber are focussing on areas where government is losing revenue.
Two instances readily come to mind here. Through a motion raised on the floor, the Senate investigated and found out that in the operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), government has lost more than N20 billion and will lose more if  the contract with the company charged with the collection was not terminated. In a well- argued, revealing submission, it called on the executive to discontinue the transaction. In another investigation arising from a motion, Senate discovered that the government has been duped of over N400bn through wrong application of the Duty Waivers policy. It has since directed that the culprits be made to cough out what they wrongfully got.
By giving priority to laws and issues that affect the economy, the present Senate has defined its own focus. And if they can record appreciable success in these areas, they would have helped to solve a large percentage of the problems threatening the existence of the country.  They would also have helped to reposition the country for achieving greatness and serving the interests of Nigerians.
Olaniyonu is Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President.