Nigerian Senate Begins Annual Vacation, To Resume September 15

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan said the various committees of the Senate will be working during vacation.

Nigerian Senate Begins Annual Vacation, To Resume September 15
Nigerian Senate

The Senate on Thursday adjourned plenary till September 15 to enable members proceed on annual summer vacation.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan made this known after an extended sitting of the Upper Chamber, in Abuja.

Lawan however said the break notwithstanding, the various committees of the Senate would be working and available “to attend to urgent matters that require their attention”.

He directed the Senate Committee on Finance to engage with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to prepare the 2021 appropriation Bill.

He said the Senate hopes the Executive will, apart from the presentation of the 2021 budget estimates, forward to it the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for consideration and passage.

 

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He said, “I urge that our oil and gas committees continue to engage with the Executive arm of Government, particularly the NNPC, DPR, and all the Petroleum related agencies and work with them as if the bill has been presented to us so that we reduce the time that we need to spend considering the bill when it is finally presented to us.

“It is our hope and desire that we are able to break the jinx that has visited the PIB since 2007.

“The PIB has defied passage and assent, this time around we want to work assiduously with the Executive arm of Government to ensure that we pass the PIB and that the President signs it into law because we have everything to lose if not passed this year.

“If we are able to do it, we will get more revenue into the coffers of the Federal Government, as well as attract and retain investments into the oil and gas sector in Nigeria,”