The majority of Nigerians are happy with the federal lawmakers and by extension, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has said.
He said many citizens would, after their tenure, say and write good commentaries about the National Assembly and what they achieved.
Mr Lawan made these comments at the event of his 63rd birthday celebration in Abuja on Wednesday.
His statement comes amid criticisms from many Nigerians to the lawmakers for major faults like failing to check the excesses of the Executive arm and always doing the bidding of the president.
Many have also accused the lawmakers of chasing personal interests and breaking several laws than looking out for Nigerians. Over the years, aggrieved Nigerians have described the ninth assembly as a rubber stamp for the president.
But this “name”, Mr Lawan said, will not deter the lawmakers from considering and passing pro-people legislations needed for the development and advancement of the country.
“We believe that there is a price to pay for anything, but we are patriotic. Let us be called any name, what we want to do and achieve is for our country to be better.
“Tomorrow, some of these people that are calling us all types of names will be writing very good commentaries about what we have been able to achieve in this ninth National Assembly.
“Majority of Nigerians are happy with what we are doing, we are not perfect, we make our errors, and we will correct them.
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“We identify with our citizens, but we will always do what is in the best interest of our country.”
On insecurity, the Senate President said Nigerians are tired of stories on killings – a situation he said is “not too good for the country.”
While referring to the recent killings of over 200 people in different communities in Zamfara State, Mr Lawan, said the government is concerned.
He also expressed optimism that things will turn around for the better within the remaining one and half years left for this administration. This is even as he commended the armed forces for their efforts so far.
“In supporting the security agencies for more potent war against the killers in the land, the National Assembly has appropriated over a trillion for security in the 2022 budget, which will be monitored very well for desired results.
“In achieving this, our relevant committees will ensure that procurement process is transparent and what and what projected to be bought or acquired, are bought.
“The security situation in the country is begging for more attention and it shall be given because that is the primary purpose of governance, ” he said.
NASS concerned about borrowings
Despite the consistent borrowings by the federal government and the Senate’s speedy approval of loan requests, Mr Lawan said the National Assembly is “concerned.”
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The borrowings, he said, will continue if expected revenues are not generated by agencies saddled with that purposes.
“Nobody likes taking loans, borrowing or accumulating debts, whether as an individual, a family, a community or as a country.
“But what can you do when you’re not able to generate enough? We are as concerned as anybody else about our level of borrowing, even though we have not saturated, but if we can do better, why not reduce, and the best way to reduce is to get more revenues from especially independent sources.
“The government-owned enterprises are supposed to give us more money. In 2022, we are expecting maybe about a trillion, I’m not an economist, but I believe that we should be expecting maybe double or triple from them.
“We must support them, we must supervise them, and we must keep them on their toes for us to have more revenues in other to reduce the level of borrowing,” he said.
He further disclosed that the Senate would, in the first quarter of 2022, focus on addressing the challenges of revenue generation, collection and remittance to shore up earnings by the federal government.
