Joseph Bakare
The 9th National Assembly has promised to deploy legislative instruments to address insecurity in the country.
Benjamin Kalu spokesman of the House of Representatives gave the assurance while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, on the achievements of the assembly in the past six months.
He said that the current level of insecurity in the country was alarming.
“Another thing we will look at is Constitutional amendment. There will be a couple of them this year that will reflect the desires of the people.
“We will look at what pains you and pains us, which is insecurity in the land; the situation is alarming.
“We can no longer discuss it in low tones. The cries of those that have lost their lives are giving us sleepless nights and something needs to be done about it.
“This 9th Assembly is going to look at various legislative interventions with regard to insecurity in the country to ensure Nigerians are safe.
“It is a core mandate of every government to protect lives and property,” he said.
Kalu, however, noted that the Constitution empowered the police to handle security, adding that the force was capable of handling the country’s internal security, in spite of contrary views.
“Before now, there was this doubt, aspersions that they would not be able to do it.
“We are going to use legislative interventions to support them the more, and all the other role players within the Armed Forces,” he said.
Kalu also said there was “a political will” for the 9th Assembly to build on the achievements made in the past six months.
He said the house was content with what it had achieved within the period, especially the Finance Act, 2020 and the 2020 Appropriation Act.
The lawmaker said the executive had no reason not to implement the budget, adding “the onus is on them now to let Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy as captured in the budget.”
He said the finance act needed to be in place to enhance the implementation of the budget, because without the act it would be difficult to implement the budget.
“There were objectives set by the executive when they introduced the finance act; on one hand, it was to create a fair business environment that would enable a stimulation of our economy.
“On the other hand, it was to raise revenue that would be used for the implementation of the budget,” he added.
He said that the national assembly would ensure that “the executive walk its talk” to see to the implementation of the budget.
Kalu gave the assurance that the national assembly was committed to passing the Petroleum Governance Industry Bill before the end 2020.
“We are very optimistic that this year, we will give it the final stamp for it to be passed,” he said.
The lawmaker added that the Electoral Act would be reviewed, and urged Nigerians to make inputs when they were called upon, to ensure that the law met the desires of the people.
Meanwhile, the house has adjourned plenary, in respect of one of the members, Rep. Muhammadu Fagen-Gawo (APC-Jigawa), who died on Dec. 31, 2019 in Dubai while on medical trip.