Lawan: 9th Assembly most successful since 1999

By Naomi Sharang/Abuja

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said the 9th Assembly under his leadership has been the most successful since the return of democraacy in 1999.

“I dare say that the 9th assembly has been the most successful in the area of lawmaking since 1999.

“We have broken many ‘jinxes’ and done many ‘firsts,’ overcoming traditional obstacles through consensus building and clever political brinkmanship,” Lawan said.

Lawan made the remark as a guest lecturer at the first ‘Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture Series 2021′” which was facilitated by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

He spoke on”The Legislature, Legislative Mandate and the People – The Reality and the Public Perception.”

He said that as of November, about 2,500 Bills have been introduced at the National Assembly – 769 at the Senate and 1,634 at the House of Representatives.

“However, as I have repeatedly maintained, for us in the 9th assembly it is not so much the number of bills as it is quality.

“We have focused our energy working on legislations that have a realistic chance of being assented to as well as those that have the potential to impact most on the lives of Nigerians,” Lawan said.

He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari led- administration had been most proficient in granting assent to Bills, stressing that available data on gazetted Acts showed that between 2015 and 2021, Buhari assented to more than 84 Bills, the highest since 1999.

Lawan said that the projection was that the figure would be significantly higher before the end of the president tenure in 2023.

To achieve much better, the National Assembly, Lawan said, required full complement of relevant institutions and agencies to deliver on its constitutional mandate.

Lawan said that with the support of other institutions like National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), the job of legislation would be made easier.

The president of the senate said that the focus of the 9th assembly had been on legislations that were most likely to impact either on the democratic institutions, economy, security or the livelihood of Nigerians.