National Assembly Roundup: Change of plenary time, food crisis, others top stories from Senate last week

Senators worried by food crisis

During the plenary on Tuesday, the Senate called on the federal government to immediately address the impending food security challenges in the country.

The call followed a motion moved by Sunday Karimi (Kogi West) during the plenary.

Mr Karimi, while presenting his motion, said the prices of basic food items such as rice, beans, tomatoes and onions have increased by over a hundred per cent.

He listed insecurity, bad roads, removal of fuel subsidies and devaluation of the naira as some factors that led to the inflation of food prices.

The senator also lamented excessive charges by sellers of foodstuff and called on the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Ministry of Agriculture to sensitise the marketers on possible consequences.

FILE PHOTO: Food items in an open market in Mpape, Abuja

Mr Karimi prayed the upper chamber to urge the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, address the impending food crisis in the country.

Among the senators who contributed to the motion were the Senate Whip, Ali Ndume (Borno South), Ahmed Wadada (SDP, Nasarawa West), and Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North).

The lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for the motion when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, put it to a voice vote.

Mr Akpabio, after that, approved the motion and directed the Clerk of the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze, to direct the resolutions to appropriate offices for immediate action.

Senate honours deceased Rep

On Wednesday, the Senate suspended plenary in honour of a member of the House of Representatives, Olajide Akinremi, who passed away.

Mr Akinremi, until his death at 51 after a brief illness, represented Ibadan North Federal Constituency of Oyo State.

Rep Olajide Akinremi 

He served as the chairperson of the House Committee on Science Research Institutes.

After the adoption of the Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday’s plenary, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, raised a motion to suspend the plenary till the following day to honour the deceased lawmaker in line with the tradition of the National Assembly.

The Minority Leader, Abba Moro, seconded the motion.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, thereafter put the motion to vote, and the majority of lawmakers supported it. He thereafter requested the senators to observe a one-minute silence in honour of the deceased lawmaker.

Senate adjusts plenary time

On Thursday, the Senate amended its resumption time for the plenary from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The upper chamber also amended its closing hours from 2: 00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Senate President, Mr Akpabio, announced an amendment of the time during the plenary after many senators supported a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Mr Bamidele.

The new rule says, “Order 8 sub-section (2) of the Senate Standing Rule (as amended) now states “On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Senate shall meet at 11:00 a.m. and unless previously adjourned shall sit until 3:00 p.m., unless before a substantive motion had been moved by the Leader of the Senate or a Senator acting in that capacity “that this Senate do now adjourn” and if such a motion be moved and if the questions thereon has not been previously been determined, at 3: 00 p.m. the President of the Senate shall adjourn the Senate without question being put.”

The former rule of the Senate, Rule 8 sub-section (2), provided that the plenary should commence by 10 a.m. every legislative day.

The Committee of the Whole considered and approved the amendment’s clauses.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Mr Akpabio continuously disregarded legislative timing mandated by the Senate rules for the commencement of plenaries.

Senate rejects bill to enact new law for FX transaction

On Thursday, the Senate rejected a bill that sought to enact new legislation to control, monitor, and supervise transactions conducted in the foreign exchange market.

The bill, aimed to repeal the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provision) Act, Cap 2024, was sponsored by Sani Musa (APC, Niger East) during the plenary.

In his lead debate, Mr Musa, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, stressed the importance of the bill and the fact that it would help the government regulate and supervise transactions conducted in the foreign exchange market.

He also said the bill would help to stabilise the naira in the FX market.

However, most senators who contributed to the bill expressed fear of repealing the existing legislation and submitted that the consequences may be unproductive.

Among the senators are Ibrahim Dankwambo (PDP, Gombe North), a former accountant-general of the federation, and Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), a former governor of Edo State.

The Senate President put the motion to vote and many of the senators voted against it.

Ndume slams Tinubu again

Again, Senate Whip Ali Ndume came down hard on President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.

Mr Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, claimed President Tinubu is unaware that many Nigerians are hungry.

He also claimed that the president has been “caged” in the Presidential Villa and that some forces were preventing well-meaning people from seeing him.

Senator Ali Ndume (PHOTO CREDIT: Official Facebook @Sen. Muhammad Ali Ndume]

The senator, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President Tinubu, also faulted the administration on food security and specifically said that the president is not doing anything on food scarcity.

He thereafter called on the president to adopt proper measures in the fight against food insecurity.

In January, the outspoken lawmaker criticised a plan by the Tinubu administration to relocate some CBN departments and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) corporate headquarters to Lagos, saying there would be “political consequences.”

Mr Ndume alleged that “Lagos boys” in Mr Tinubu’s cabinet were behind the decision.