National Assembly would soon get its own broadcast station saddled with the responsibility of disseminating to the public its activities if the Senate Ad hoc Committee set up to draft the Legislative Agenda for the 8th Assembly completes the assignment and the report adopted at the end of the day.
Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that members of the committee were of the view that it has become imperative to have such a radio station at the National Assembly as obtained in most parliaments of the world, adding that as an arm of government, it must not rely solely on what other media houses report about the upper and lower chambers.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader, Senator Mohammed Ndume, has assured Nigerians that the Senate ad-hoc committee set up to draft the Legislative Agenda for the 8th Assembly would turn in its report in the next one week.
Addressing journalists, yesterday, in Abuja at the end of the committee’s meeting on the progress made so far towards actualising its set objectives within the stipulated time frame, Ndume explained that it would be the first time the Senate would be coming up with a legislative agenda since the inception of this democracy, adding that details of the agenda would be made public at the completion of the committee’s assignment.
According to him, the ad-hoc committee met, the intention of the members was to bring out ideas that would form the core part of the legislative agenda, which they would present to Nigerians subsequently, adding that the committee would put into the agenda, what Nigerians should expect from the 8th Senate in the next four years.
Ndume, who noted that the people expect the Senate to make meaningful contributions towards bringing the desired positive change in every facet of the polity, said: “The main purpose for this press briefing is to give you an insight into the activities of this ad-hoc committee that was set last week by the Senate President, to draw up a legislative agenda for the 8th Senate.
“This is the second meeting; we had an inaugural meeting on the same day that we were inaugurated. As you are aware, we have just one week to complete this assignment, and that is why we decided to hit the ground running immediately in order to achieve the set goal within the stated time frame.
“The details of the legislative agenda will come out when we finish the job. What we intend to do in this meeting is to bring out ideas that will form the core part of the legislative agenda which we intend to present to Nigerians. I believe that ab initio, this is the first time that the Senate will make public what the 8th Senate intends to do for Nigerians who are expecting this change, and especially with this new government and the situation in which this country finds herself.”
“So, the crux of the matter is that we are trying to present to Nigerians in a new way, what they should expect from the 8th Senate, and that will help us to determine the level, the speed, the commitment of the Senate in discharging the collective agenda that we have for the country.”
It would be recalled that the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, had last week, inaugurated the Ad hoc Committee on Legislative Agenda, to chart a new course for the 8th Senate, which would be the guiding principle for the red chambers for the next four years.
According to him, the objective of the agenda should include: increasing the institutional capacity of the Senate; Building a legislative autonomy and strengthening the committee system, Oversight functions, Extensive representation and outreach; Stakeholder and civil society involvement; Implementation, monitoring and evaluation; Reduction in Running Cost, and Effective Legislative support System.
source; vanguard
