As the 9th Senate clocks four weeks today, it has been gale of motions with attendant resolutions without a single bill sponsored yet, by any of the 108 serving Senators. TAIYE ODEWALE reports.
Motions, yet no bills
Since its inauguration on Tuesday, 11th June, 2019 , today’s plenary of the 9th Senate will be the fifth, having on Thursday, the 13th of June, the day it had its first full plenary, embarked on 19 – day recess before resuming last week Tuesday (July 2, 2019). But of all the five sittings so far, it has been sponsorships of motions upon motions from senators without a bill yet, from any of them.
First to start such debates and resolutions – driven motions, was Senator Istifanus Gyang (PDP Plateau North), who, 24 hours after the June 12 celebration, precisely on Thursday, June 13, 2019 on the strength of orders 42 and 52 of the Senate’s standing rules, sought to subject the speech delivered by President Muhammadu Buhari at the ceremony to general debate in the Senate. Basically, he said this was necessary because of the controversy certain portion of the speech allegedly generated.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in the speech said amongst others that “China and Indonesia succeeded under authoritarian regimes, while India succeeded under democratic setting”, adding that “Nigeria could achieve same”.
But when the motion was put to question by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, majority of the senators answered “nay!” upon which it was ruled against and prevented from being debated by the senators, let alone, securing any resolutions from the Senate.
On resumption from 19- day recess thereafter, precisely on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC Kwara Central) sponsored the first full conventional motion by way of being listed on the order paper for that day and co- sponsored by some other senators.
Conventional motion
Oloriegbe ‘s motion, which centred on the activities of drug cartel at the nation’s airports vis – a – vis the vulnerability of the airports to all manner of crimes, got strong worded resolutions from the Senate. Some of those words were that the drug cartel case that almost led to killing of Zainab Aliyu in Saudi Arabia, should be pursued to its logical conclusion to serve as deterrent to others who are also in the habit of putting the lives of innocent Nigerians on the line.
The resolution urged the Federal Airports Aviation of Nigeria and other agencies to ensure that all those on duty when the case of Zainab happened must be held accountable.
It mandated the FAAN to ensure the installation and usage of effective Closed Circuit Television cameras and other security systems in all the Nigerian Airports.
It admonished the FAAN to acknowledge only accredited personnel on duty to be allowed in restricted areas of the Airports etc.
Resolutions on 3 motions
Entire legislative business the following day on Wednesday last week, also centred on motions sponsored by some of the senators totalling three altogether.
The motions were (i), “Urgent need to review the Import Duty of Soap Noodles ” , sponsored by Senator Barau Jibrin (APC Kano North) and four others, (ii), “Avastin Injection: The case of ten Kaduna patients who were blind after administration of the injection “, sponsored by Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (APC Adamawa Central) and six others, ( iii ), “Pipeline Explosion in Komkom Town of Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State”, sponsored by Senator George Sekibo (PDP Rivers East) and three others.
In terms of resolutions after general debates on the motions by senators, while the Senate resolved that the federal government should revert back to 35 percent import duty on the importation of soap noodles to save the industry in particular and Nigeria economy in general, it put machinery in motion, in terms of ad-hoc committee, to probe the disastrous use of avastin injection and urged the National Administration of Food Drugs and Control (NAFDAC), to suspend its usage forthwith by any medical practitioners.
Ad- hoc committee was also set up by the upper legislative chamber to probe the Komkom town pipeline explosion via resolution to that effect.
105 senators sponsor motion on PHC
Strikingly, the motions sponsorships trend reached its climax on Thursday last week when the entire 105 senators aside the two presiding officers i.e, president and deputy president of the senate , joined Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC Lagos Central) , in co- sponsoring the motion on the “Need for Increased Funding of the Primary Health Care Centres ( PHC)” across the country.
Tinubu and the 105 other senators in the motion said adequate funding of the PHC has become imperative, stressing that “it is universally accepted that access to healthcare for all is only possible through prevalence and accessibility of primary health care”.
Tracing the many problems in Nigeria’s health sector to low performance of the PHC facilities, the federal lawmakers quoted the World Health Organisation, WHO’s stance that “primary healthcare will meet 80-90 percent of a person’s health needs over the course of their life”.
They added that the World Bank Service Delivery Indicators Survey has shown that performance of the PHC is hampered by lack of financial resources, infrastructure deficit, insufficiency or lack of drugs, equipment and vaccines.
According to them, “until accessible and affordable healthcare is provided, emergency and non-emergency situations will remain a burden”.
Consequently, the upper legislative chamber, among other resolutions, urged the Ministry of Health to create awareness on the benefits of health and life insurance also directed the Ministry of Environment to put in place policy to ensure that every employer of labour has health insurance package for their employees. It also urged the ministries at federal and state levels to encourage medical technological innovation in primary health facilities.
Being an all senators’ motion, in his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, stressed the importance of the PHC to Nigerians particularly the rural dwellers, noting that the last assembly acknowledged this by appropriating one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the health centre.
He, however, stressed the need for prudence, transparency, probity and accountability in the way and manner the resources were deployed, so that the purpose of providing additional funds to the health sector would be actualised.
Tanker explosion and health insurance scheme
The two other motions debated on the floor of the Senate last Thursday and resolutions taken, were the one on the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS) , sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe (APC Kwara Central) and the one on Benue Tanker Explosion which claimed 50 lives, sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Orker- Jev (PDP Benue North West).
While the Senate on the NHIS motion ordered an investigation into the activities of the scheme aimed at improving its services for attainment of the Universal Health Coverage in the country, it condemned in strong terms, the killing of over 50 people in Benue state triggered by the explosion of a petrol tanker in Gwer East local government area.
Being disaster triggered by bad road, it consequently urged the government to release funds for the dualisation of the Keffi-Lafia-Makurdi-Enugu road, where the incident happened just as it called on the management of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to quickly assist the affected families.
With a total of nine motions moved, debated and resolutions taken at four different sittings so far, expectations are high for bills to surface in subsequent plenary this week or next, being the fulcrum of lawmaking for which the federal lawmakers are elected for.
