President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said on Friday that the National Assembly was working hard to ensure the passage of the 2021 Appropriation Bill by the second week of December, 2020.
He also said that the amended constitution and the Petroleum Industry Bill would be passed in 2021
Lawan stated these at a retreat for top management staff of the National Assembly and National Assembly Service Commission.
He said, “We are working to pass the 2021 budget by the second week of December by the grace of God. We are working very assiduously; we will ensure that there is every possible scrutiny of the budget estimates presented to us by the executive arm of government.
“So far, we achieved that in the 2020 budget. We believe we did the right thing. We promised Nigerians that we will do that and it is going to be part of our legacy in the ninth National Assembly.”
The Senate President also hinted that the Assembly would ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill by the second quarter of 2021.
He explained, “The PIB is one of the most essential legislations that we have to have in this country. We intend to pass it by the grace of God before the end of the second quarter of next year.
“We will take our time because this is a very delicate and sensitive piece of legislation. We will take our time to ensure that what comes out of the National Assembly in the PIB is a product of legislation that will ensure that Nigeria earns its revenues from this industry as it should.
“The bill will also support our business people, the oil companies that are investing and in fact retain and encourage new ones to come to Nigeria to invest.”
He added, “So it has to be a win-win for all of us. We will not be selfish as a country, trying to take everything. No. Oil is like water now. Almost every country now has oil. So if you don’t provide a competitive environment in Nigeria, oil companies will have no difficulty relocating to other countries.
“We will ensure that we have a competitive environment for business and for investment.”
The Senate President gave the assurance that the National Assembly would have been done with the current process of the constitutional amendment by 2021 and also the Electoral Act(Amendment Bill).
“The constitutional amendment, of course at the moment, is not very warm because of the activities of members of the National Assembly on the 2021 budget.
“The two committees in the Senate and the House are already working behind the scene to ensure that as soon as we pass the budget, the constitution amendment activities will start in earnest.
“We believe that we should pass our amendments within 2021. Similarly the amendment to the Electoral Act is going to be within that year 2021 to ensure that we don’t encounter unnecessary distractions.”
