Welcome to a new Legislative Day in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan PhD, CON led the Principal Officers into the chambers; took the official prayers; and began the day’s proceedings at 10:46am.

‪Senator Bima Enagi moved for the approval of votes and proceedings of Thursday, 14th November 2019. Senator Francis Fadahunsi seconded.‬

OATH

Newly elected Senator representing Sokoto South, Ibrahim Abdullahi Danbaba took the oath of office.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan PhD, CON announced that Senate Leader would coordinate the round table meeting.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan PhD, CON read a letter from Mr. President on the transmission of six (6) Aviation sector Bills for consideration and passage into law:

1. Civil Aviation Bill, 2019;
2. Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Bill, 2019;
3. Nigeria College of Airspace Management (Est, etc) Bill, 2019;
4. Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (Est, etc) Bill, 2019;
5. Nigeria Meteorological Agency (Est, etc) Bill, 2019; and
6. Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (Est, etc) Bill, 2019.

POINT OF ORDER

Senator Yaore Binos cited Orders 42 & 52 and raised a motion on the need for immediate disaster response by NEMA in four communities in Adamawa South Senatorial District (Numa, Gimu and two other Local Government areas)

Senate resolved to:

1. Direct NEMA to immediately implement a response program for the flood disaster and affected communities in Numa; and
2. Direct the Senate Committees on Special Duties, Climate Change and Ecological Management to investigate the effectiveness of NEMA in their disaster response activities in 2019.

Senator Tolu Odebiyi cited Orders 42 & 52 and raised a motion on the need for tankers transporting flammable products and Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) in Nigeria to adhere to the 1957 United Nations international agreement concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by road.

Senate resolved to:

1. Observe a minute silence in honor of those who lost their lives;
2. Commiserate with the families of all those who either lost their lives or were injured as a result of the accident;
3. Call on the relief agencies to take stock with a view to providing relief and other assistance to all those affected;
4. Mandate owner(s) of the truck involved in the accident to compensate victims of the accident; and
5. Mandate relevant regulatory agencies towards ensuring strict compliance to safety and to the UN 1957 international agreement concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by road for the purpose of safeguarding against the reoccurrence of these types of accidents, in and around businesses and communities along our roads.

Senator Clifford Ordia cited Order 42 and informed the Senate of the World Toilet Day and the need to solve the issue of open defecation in Nigeria.

PRESENTATION OF BILLS

First Reading

1. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Bill, 2019 (SB. 31) by Senator Theodore Orji.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Bill, 2019 (SB. 31) was read the First Time.

1. Whistle Blower and Witness Protection Bill, 2019 (SB. 125) by Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu.

Whistle Blower and Witness Protection Bill, 2019 (SB. 125) was read the First Time.

1. Unclaimed Fund Legislative Bill, 2019 (SB. 168) by Senator Ajayi Boroffice.

Unclaimed Fund Legislative Bill, 2019 (SB. 168) was read the First Time.

1. Federal Medical Centre Rigasa, Kaduna State (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 169) by Senator Uba Sani.

Federal Medical Centre Rigasa, Kaduna State (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 169) was read the First Time.

1. Constituency Projects (Budgetary Provisions) Bill, 2019 (SB. 170) by Senator Stella Oduah.

Constituency Projects (Budgetary Provisions) Bill, 2019 (SB. 170) was read the First Time.

1. Oil Palm Industrial Park (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 171) by Senator Michael Nnachi.

Oil Palm Industrial Park (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 171) was read the First Time.

1. Auctioneers Registration Council (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 172) by Senator Ali Ndume.

Auctioneers Registration Council (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 172) was read the First Time.

1. North Central Development Commission (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 173) by Senator Sani Musa.

North Central Development Commission (Est, etc) Bill, 2019 (SB. 173) was read the First Time.

1. Gas Flaring Bill, 2019 (SB. 174) by Senator Bassey Akpan.

Gas Flaring Bill, 2019 (SB. 174) was read the First Time.

1. Marketing (Breast Milk Substitute) Act CAP M5 LFN 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (SB. 175) by Senator Betty Apiafi.

Marketing (Breast Milk Substitute) Act CAP M5 LFN 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (SB. 175) was read the First Time.

1. Electoral Act CAP E6 LFN 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (SB. 176) by Senator Abdulfatai Buhari.

Electoral Act CAP E6 LFN 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (SB. 176) was read the First Time.

CONSIDERATION OF A BILL

• Second Reading

1. A Bill for an Act to amend the National Council on Public Procurement and Bureau of Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and for related matters, 2019 (SB. 158) by Senator Abdullahi Sankara.

Senator Ibrahim Gobir seconded that the Bill be read the second Time.

“Distinguished Colleagues, you would recall that last week we had to work on two bills seeking to amend the Public Procurement Act sponsored by Senator Lau Isa and Senator Uche Ekwunife, and were referred to the Senate Committee on Public Procurement. I think we should do the same with this bill.”- Senate President, Ahmad Lawan PhD, CON.

A Bill for an Act to amend the National Council on Public Procurement and Bureau of Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and for related matters, 2019 (SB. 158) was read the Second Time.

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan PhD, CON referred the Bill to the Committee on Public Procurement to report within two (2) weeks.

MOTIONS

1. The proliferation of fake medical reports emanating from public hospitals in Nigeria by Senator Uche Ekwunife.

“I rise to support this motion. What she has said is what is happening today. The doctors want to get rich overnight and thus issuing fake certificates. I ageee with her that Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) should monitor their people issuing these certificates. I will agree with her that this should stop and the best way to stop it is to tell the NMA to be serious with their doctors.”- Senator Theodore Orji.

“In the past we used to know about fake drugs posing a lot of danger to the lives of our people. I support this motion.”- Senator Abba Moro.

“This motion raised by our colleague is very timely. Fake medical report leads to avoidable death. I want to join my colleagues to say something must be done to ensure systemic proliferation.”- Senator Sandy Onor.

“I join her in supporting this motion, time has come for us to have a law that provides how professionals should conduct themselves in a time like this.”- Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

“The motion is on the right cause and I think on the basis of this I want my colleagues to support the motion ably moved by Senator Uche Ekwunife.”- Senator Bala Na’allah.

Senate resolved to:

1. Direct the Federal Ministry of Health to set up an efficient and proper mechanism to identify and prevent this very dangerous trend in public hospitals; and
2. Urge the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to intensify its effort in checking incidences of fraud and quackery in the medical profession, especially in public hospitals.
3. Addressing Nigeria’s power problems by Senator Chukwuka Utazi.

“This motion addresses one of the sensitive norms in any modern society. The agency of government responsible for the privatization of government facilities did not do a thorough job of identifying the state of affairs of three important elements of power supply. I want to say that we need to address this matter in a more pragmatic manner and in doing so will be to minimize the lamentation.”- Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

“This is a very serious well thought out motion. We are where we are because we have refused to tell ourselves the truth. I think it would do this Senate a lot of good if we can set up a critical team that will study the power sector and see how we can regulate it.”- Senator Bala Na’allah.

“We need to look at the whole power sector, brainstorm and set up an arrangement. We need to come together! Government cannot do it alone, we must bring private investors.”- Senator Barau Jibrin.

“What Senator Utazi has put together is commendable, we thank you for the research made. Nigeria has come of age to realize that Nigeria belongs to all of us. I pray that we will be able to give Nigerians the leadership they deserve.”- Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

“This motion is timely and comprehensive. There is a direct correlation between GDP growth of nations and power generation. The total power produced in subsaharan Africa is almost same as that of Chicago. I believe there is nothing wrong in having major players driving our economy like Samsung in South Korea.”- Senator Kashim Shettima.

“The truth is that power is very expensive . It takes about $2million for a megawatt of power. Those handling the power especially the DISCOS are poor people. Over centralization of power in Nigeria has hampered power development in Nigeria. Let us bring states into this issue and challenge them.”- Senator Rochas Okorocha.

Senate resolved to:

1. Urge the Committee on Power to review the problems of power generation, transmission and distribution in Nigeria to investigate the various issues raised in this motion and report within four weeks;
2. Urge the Federal Government to target the achievement of 100,000 megawatts of installed capacity for the country to match the size of Nigeria’s economy and improve its developmental status;
3. Urge the Federal Government to devise power generation models that are embedded at economic and industrial clusters, hinting around regional grids that are semi-autonomous but interconnected to the national grid;
4. Urge the Federal Government to upgrade the transmission infrastructure of Nigeria’s power grid for a more efficient transmission of power;
5. Urge the Federal Government to break up Nigeria’s power distribution companies into smaller, more manageable distribution companies for optimal performance;
6. Senate to organize a national round table to address the issues raised; and
7. Urge the Federal Government to seek alternative means of renewable energy.

ADJOURNMENT
Senate Leader moved that all items on the order paper be stood down to another legislative day. Minority Leader seconded.

Plenary is adjourned to Wednesday, 20th November 2019.

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