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Tag: Mark

  • Jonathan’s aides made him sole candidate in 2011, Mark claims

    Jonathan’s aides made him sole candidate in 2011, Mark claims

    Former Senate President  David Mark  said yesterday that aides of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan were the brains behind his promotion as sole presidential candidate of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 election.

    The aides’ position,he said,ran contrary to that  of party leaders at an earlier meeting that “though it was the turn of the North, President Jonathan was also to be allowed to contest.”

    Mark  was reacting to claims by former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Adviser, Senator Abba Aji, on the circumstances surrounding Jonathan’s candidacy in that election.

    The former Senate President, in an open  letter to Aji said: “You referred to a meeting in which Prof Sam Oyovbarie and Gen. Sam Ogbemudia made contributions. I was in that meeting too. You will recall that the crux of that meeting was whether or not Jonathan was to be allowed to contest (2011 elections).

    “It was argued that since the late President Yar’Adua (Umaru Musa) was from the North, any candidate to complete his term must also come from the North.

    “After a lengthy debate, the conclusion was that ‘although Jonathan was not from the North, he also was to be allowed to contest’.

    “If after this, you met elsewhere to also conclude or decide that Jonathan was to be the sole candidate, I certainly was not a party to that meeting nor was I privy to that decision.

    “I was, therefore, very shocked when you queried why others were allowed to purchase forms in the caucus meeting.

    “When did you decide that Jonathan was to be the sole PDP presidential candidate?

    “If anything, it is you the personal aides who floated and promoted that idea.

    “The first meeting merely agreed that though it was the turn of the North, President Jonathan was also to be allowed to contest.

    “My understanding was that the emphasis was on allowing someone outside of the northern geopolitical zone to contest.

    “Why then would you want to stop other candidates from the North from buying forms?

    “In any case, how did selling forms to other candidates of Northern extraction amount to misleading Jonathan?”

  • Saraki’s Senate as offshoot of Mark’s

    The morning shows the day. I suppose by now it is an open secret that the current Saraki/Ekweremadu’s 8th Senate is an offshoot of Mark/Ekwerenmadus’s 7th Senate, adjudged by many including the highly respected Economist of London as ‘the most expensive senate in the world’ which concentrated attention on the welfare of its members while the executive ran the nation and its economy aground.  We need no further confirmation than Ekweremadu’s sickening revelation that the June 9 treachery and opportunism were packaged by leading members of PDP and executed right inside the sitting room of David Mark. Next was the confession of the Senate President that he hid inside a small car from 6 am till 10 am when he walked into the Upper chamber where 49 PDP and about seven APC senators adopted him senate president while 51 of his APC colleagues were at another venue for a meeting with the president . This was an improvement on an old PDP strategy adopted for the botched attempt at impeaching Tambuwal who was prevented from entering the National Assembly along with his colleagues who had to scale the gate to prevent the already seated PDP lawmakers from executing their plan. And lastly the series of bizarre developments in the upper house last week has further confirmed where Saraki’s loyalty resides and the gods he worships.

    The senate president who had earlier denied his party the right to choose its leaders in the upper house in accordance with its 16 years old convention, did not only allow PDP to nominate its minority leader, he bent the rules that precluded green horn senators from holding such positions in order to accommodate former Akwa Ibom governor, now Senator Godswill Akpabio, his pillar of support in his war against his party. And as if to spite President Buhari who had after their party’s meeting directed that party supremacy should be respected, a number of APC senators, probably in anticipation of lucrative committee chairmanship positions, joined their PDP counterparts to pass a vote of confidence on Saraki and Ekweremadu and their actions to date. The motion was moved by a PDP member on the floor of the chambers. And finally, long after the senate president’s wife who was drilled by EFCC over some alleged contracts deals had “reaffirmed her willingness to assist the EFCC and expects that the spirit of this enquiry will follow the global standards and principles of open democracy, transparency and impartially”, Saraki’s senate decided that their most pressing duty was a motion warning EFCC to desist from harassing the wives of senators. And if unknown to us, the ‘Saraki like mind senators’ have agreed to embark on a crusade to defend the people against EFCC harassment, they will still not escape public resentment for failing to pass a resolution or accompany ex governors  and others that have kept dates with the organization in recent weeks.

    From these bizarre events, it is now apparent that despite blackmail by Saraki and Ekweremadu’s powerful supporters and their media, the fears of the majority of the members of APC oligarchy about Saraki’s capacity to successfully anchor the change Nigerian voted for on March 28 have not been misplaced.  And Nigerians who massively voted for change can now make a distinction between Saraki and his PDP supporters who want to continue business as usual and President Buhari, a man of honour and integrity;   Tinubu, a political genius and a Yoruba leader trusted by his people, Oyegun, a perfect gentleman; Audu Ogbe, a man of principle who remains the only past PDP chairman not enmeshed in financial scandal;  Amaechi, a leader who will always call a spade by its proper name,  and Tony Momoh, a man who will stand by what he believes in. Nigerians have faith in these great Nigerians.

    It is for this reason they must not be afraid to change the course of our history by confronting the twin evils of treachery and opportunism that have bedevilled our nation since 1962 when an illegal state of emergency was declared in the West and Dr. Majekodunmi, Tafawa Balewa’s friend and personal physician was appointed as administrator of the West to upstage Alhaji Soroye Adegbenro, the legally appointed premier. The argument then was that Yoruba should allow peace to reign since Majekodunmi was also another Egba man. The 1965 violence and ‘operation wet e’ had its root in 1962.

    In 1966, a military coup wiped out the warring politicians and the most senior military officers. The purge was sectional in conception and execution. Ironsi who inexplicably escaped the military purge suppressed the military insurgency but insisted on being made head of state as a precondition for his protection of the surviving ministers. The nation tolerated the opportunism. Ironsi carried on business as usual turning a blind eye at those who carried out sectional killings of military and political leaders. The pogroms of July 1966 stemmed from January 1966 opportunism.

    As it was in 1962 and 1966, so it was in 1993 when Babangida annulled the most credible election in our nation’s history won by MKO Abiola.  Babangida reached out for an Ernest Shonekan, another Egba, and man to upstage MKO Abiola. Those holding our nation to ransom then as today saw nothing wrong with Shonekan’s opportunism. But in less than six months, the court dismantled Babangida illegal contraption paving the way for the emergence of Abacha.  Abacha’s five years brutal war against Nigerians stemmed from 1993 Shonekan’s opportunism

    This is the time to break the vicious cycle of the twin evils of treachery and opportunism that have bedevilled our federation since independence. Buhari and APC can do without those opportunistic senators who have opted to join PDP to continue business as usual. It is obvious these traders care less about Nigerians.

    One of other reason APC has nothing to fear is because there is not going to be much to share since with Buhari  stealing government funds will be regarded as corruption.  What brought those who have turned the upper house into a trading ground will ultimately put them asunder. It was the crisis over sharing among PDP members during the fraudulent privatization programme that sparked off accusation and counter-accusation of who was more corrupt between President Obasanjo, and Vice President Atiku Abubakar.  Saraki himself was the whistle blower over the fuel subsidy scam. It was PDP that in turn informed Nigerians that Joy Oil, the company in which Saraki allegedly had interest also benefitted from the fuel subsidy fraud. And finally it was Kwara PDP leadership that claimed responsibility for writing the petition that led to Mrs. Toyin Saraki’s current travails. And while commending “the EFCC for its resourcefulness and painstakingness’, PDP Kwara also congratulated itself saying “We are particularly delighted that our painstaking efforts at chronicling the monumental heist that defined the eight years, almost uneventful rule of former Governor Bukola Saraki in Kwara, has not gone unnoticed.” The weeks ahead hold surprises for those who have held the nation down for so long. All the nation needs from President Buhari and his APC is leadership.

  • Mark awards N500million scholarship

    Mark awards N500million scholarship

    No fewer than 15,700 students in tertiary and elementary schools in Benue State and beyond have benefitted from David Mark Scholarship Foundation.

    The scholarship has gulped about N500million since inception in 2007.

    The beneficiaries included 14,703 students from various universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, as well as school of nursing.

    A statement by Media Assistant to Senator David Mark, Paul Mummeh, said that the beneficiaries were classified into five categories including students of tertiary institutions, gifted girl child, orphans and vulnerable children as well as special awards.

    While distributing the awards to beneficiaries in Otukpo, Benue State, over the weekend, Mark restated his passion for education.

    He said: “For me, education is a passion. I wish that every citizen has access to quality and functional education.

    “This would eliminate ignorance, diseases and societal vices. Besides, some people would not take advantage or manipulate the uneducated needlessly.”

    He promised to sustain the scholarship foundation no matter the challenges.

    The immediate Senate President said: “I cannot play politics with this foundation. I don’t need to. For those who criticise me, they should not bother or worry.

    “They can simply do theirs. I believe that if every other person who is well placed under takes to train at least two uneducated citizens annually, we would be able to wipe out illiteracy in our society in no distant time.”

     

  • Saraki, Dogara, Yussuf, Mark others harp on national unity, peace

    Saraki, Dogara, Yussuf, Mark others harp on national unity, peace

    Senate President Bukola Saraki House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara stressed the importance of prayer in the development of the country yesterday.

    They spoke in their congratulatory messages to Muslims across the world on the successful completion of this year’s Ramadan fast and the celebration of Eid-el-Fitri.

    Mark, who spoke in a statement by his Media Adviser Yusuph Olaniyonu, urged Muslim faithful should intensify prayers for unity, peace and progress in Nigeria.

    He urged Muslims to adhere to one of the injunctions of Allah that formed the basis of sermons delivered in various mosques during the holy month that all citizens should pray for their leaders and their nation for divine guidance.

    The statement reads: “At this point in our national life, unity among all the different ethnic and religious groups will usher in peace and peace will engender progress and development.

    “We therefore need to learn to live together in peace, tolerate one another and eschew actions which can threaten the peace of the nation.

    “Muslims, in particular, should continue to demonstrate the fact that the meaning of Islam is peace and therefore we should learn to live in peace with people of other faith and tolerate one another.

    “We should also remember our fellow citizens in the North eastern part of the country who are being assailed by insurgents who call themselves Boko Haram.”

    Saraki urged all Nigerians to pray for the military in the war against the insurgents so that by the period of the next Ramadan, peace would have been totally restored to the whole of the Northeast and other parts of Nigeria.”

    Also yesterday, Speaker Dogara urged Nigerians to be optimistic of a better tomorrow  despite the harsh economic climate in the land.

    His deputy, Yussuf, also appealed for understanding as the President Mohammadu Buhari administration and the APC unfold plans on how to move the nation forward.

    Felicitating with Muslim faithful, Dogara called on all Nigerians not to relent in prayers for the peace, unity and development of the country.

    In the statement by his Media Adviser Turaki Hassan, the Speaker urged Nigerians, especially Muslims, to use the Sallah period to pray for the country to overcome the multifaceted challenges facing it.

    It reads: “He said that, more than ever before, the present crop of leaders are coming at a very difficult time when the country`s economy is in bad shape, and worsened by dwindling revenues, as leaders, we are ready and prepared to make the necessary sacrifice and lead by example.

    “The Speaker maintained that recent happenings in the country, especially the renewed attacks by the Boko Haram in the Northeast are source of concern, nonetheless, he expressed hope that Nigeria will surely over come.”

    Dogara described the resurgence of bombings of worship places by the insurgents as “last kicks of a dying horse and that it will soon be a thing of the past”.

    Commending President Muhammadu Buhari for the recent shake-up in the military high command with the appointment of new Service chiefs, Dogara promised the National Assembly’s support to ensure adequate funding and kitting of the military and other security agencies.

    Yussuf’s media aide said the deputy speaker has a strong belief that only unity that can bring about growth and development to the nation.

    A statement by Oladimeji reads: “The deputy speaker appealed to Nigerians be patient and allow the present government unfolds its plans on how to move the nation forward.

    “No meaningful development and achievement could be made under a hostile atmosphere which leads to instability.”

    Senator Mark urged for ceaseless prayer and  genuine resolve by all Nigerians  in the  war against insurgency in the country.

     The former Senate President called on all men of good will to rise to the challenge posed by the unabating terrorism being orchestrated by Boko Haram insurgents.

     Noting that the situation was pushing the country to the extreme, Mark said: “There is no hiding place any more.  We must face the reality of a war situation. We either confront the monster headlong or get consumed.”

    He bemoaned the agonies being unleashed on Nigerians “especially in the Northeast region that has led to millions of avoidable deaths, made our people refugees in their fatherland and destroyed property worth millions of naira.

    “I’m convinced that we can overcome our challenges including insecurity if we come together in an honest, sincere and committed manner. In these circumstances, we have no choice but to come together and confront our problem in a holistic way.”

  • Saraki/Lawan: Before the crucifixion of Mark

    Saraki/Lawan: Before the crucifixion of Mark

    Since the election of Senator Bukola Saraki as the President of the Senate last June 9, there has been a subtle but noticeable effort in an angle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to carve a subterfuge role for Saraki’s predecessor, Senator David Mark, in the dramatic poll between Saraki and Senator Ahmed Lawan.

    Ordinarily, such innuendoes and half-truths would have been left in the realms of half-literate and back-street urchins but where respectable men and women begin to buy into such fabricated lines as ecclesial truth, it becomes mandatory to revisit the events that characterised the election.

    The immediate past President of the Senate, Senator David Mark’s pre-occupation before last June 8 was to provide a leadership for Senators-elect on the platform of the Peoples

    Democratic Party (PDP) to present a credible  opposition to the APC.

    Senator Mark held series of meetings with PDP’s stakeholders as well as Senators-elect on the platform of his party with a view to achieving a consensual approach to his party’s position. He did likewise for House of Representatives members-elect of the PDP stock. He desired and worked to ensure that PDP Senators as well as Members-elect were united in their choice of presiding officers.

    It is also imperative to state that both Saraki and Lawan as well as their respective promoters expectedly sought the support of the PDP Senators-elect and also importantly the support of Senator Mark. The stage was set for the election of the presiding officers.

    On the night of June 8, a meeting was held at the residence of Senator David Mark. Present were the governors elected on the platform of the party, a handful mumber of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) and the

    senators-elect. The agenda of that meeting was to decide the course that the caucus would thread.

    As the meeting progressed, no fewer than three grounds were formulated – to present nominations for Senate President and the Deputy Senate President; to support APC for President of the Senate with a PDP-member Deputy Senate President; and, to turn down the two major contenders – Saraki and Lawan – then support another candidate.

    The first ground crashed as Senator Mark made it clear that he will not join the race for Senate President. The third ground also collapsed as the timing was considered inexpedient. The meeting was left with the second formulation – supporting APC Senate President and PDP Deputy Senate President. There was a need to choose between Saraki and Lawan who the APC candidate would be since the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu did not decline to be Deputy Senate President.

    Both Senators Mark and Ekweremadu however opted not to cast a vote in the mock election. When the lot was cast, Saraki garnered 28 while Lawan won 17 votes. The meeting then resolved to support the candidate with a majority vote, Saraki, and that Ekweremadu will run as his Deputy Senate President. It is important to stress that decisions like these are never cast in iron. Sometimes, they could be re-defined by political expediency.

    When the meeting closed, it was already 3am and the Senate Inauguration had been scheduled for 10am by a Proclamation issued and signed by President Muhammadu Buhari and presented to the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA) Alhaji Maikasuwa.

    President Buhari’s proclamation was not addressed to Mark as he (Mark) had ceased to be the presiding officer of the Senate since the previous week. He was on the floor of the Senate like every other Senator-elect to cast his vote for a President of the Senate and take his turn for oaths. It is therefore ludicrous for any of the clans of APC to accuse the two-term President of the Senate of manipulation of the electoral process that gave Saraki a unanimous victory.

    Rather, what has confounded every parliamentary politics watcher is how Senator Lawan, with his mastery of parliamentary practice and procedure, could be easily snookered through a yet to be confirmed scheduled meeting with President Buhari. Did it not occur to Lawan and his handlers that a presidential proclamation, which is a public or official announcement of an important matter, can not be reversed through mere text messages to APC Senators-elect only in a chamber populated by the two major parties?

    Senator Mark can not be crucified for the failings of the APC apparatchiks. His actions in the horse trading and election of the Presiding Officer for the Senate last June 9 was honest, noble and sincere. Above all, Mark deserves to be commended for his statesman rejection of a ploy to drag him to contest for the Senate President when it became obvious that majority of the APC senators-elect had absented themselves from the floor.

    Ologbondiyan, a parliamentary newsreporter and political editor served as special adviser (media and publicity) to the immediate past president of the Senate, Senator David A.B Mark

  • Mark’s senatorial seat threatened

    Fresh revelation has emerged over the controversy surrounding the victory of former Senate President David Mark in the Benue South Senatorial District election.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) card readers have detected more ghost voters.

    The National and State Assembly Tribunal in Benue State has authorised the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Daniel Onjeh and his party to inspect and take the electoral materials of the senatorial poll.

    Onjeh contested the seat against Mark of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The latter was pronounced the winner, but the former and his party alleged that the election was marred by irregularities.

    The card readers detected 18,424 ghost voters during the exercise.

    A statement by Onjeh’s media office said: “The new INEC CTC Card Reader info we got yesterday shows that only 87,819 voters were accredited for the March 28 general elections in Benue South; 58, 607 were manually accredited.

    “Against the total of 166, 633 fraudulently recorded by PDP and the INEC in Makurdi earlier, card readers show that both failed and successful incidents of accreditation was 146,426. Thus, besides other irregularities, 20, 207 ghost voters were automatically detected!”

  • PDP hails Mark, Ekweremadu, others for successful stewardship

    PDP hails Mark, Ekweremadu, others for successful stewardship

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed Senator David Mark and Senator Ike Ekweremadu for the mature leadership they provided for the last National Assembly.

    The party also commended the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and his deputy, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha for their efforts in steadying the ship of the last House despite unpredicted daunting challenges.

    A statement yesterday by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the leadership of the party noted the efforts of the last National Assembly under Mark in ensuring unity among lawmakers and leading the federal legislature to provide the much needed direction for national development.

    The party also showered encomiums on Ihedioha and other PDP leaders in the last House of Representatives for their steadfastness to the party and the nation at large.

    “The leadership of the PDP and members of our great party nationwide appreciate the commitment of our leaders and members in the Seventh National Assembly for their selfless contributions to the development of our nation.

    “Indeed, we are pleased to underscore that in line with the undying values, tradition and manifesto of the PDP, our leaders and members in the last Senate and House of Representatives respectively, amply demonstrated that the true essence of statesmanship lies in employing its uncommon values to the benefit of the people rather than self and for this, we are very proud of them.

    “This reflects in their commitment in oversight functions as well as many landmark people-oriented legislations, especially the amendments to the 1999 constitution to further reflect the wishes and aspirations of the citizens while strengthening the unity and stability of the nation,” the party added.

    The PDP also listed the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, which further guaranteed personal freedom and greater transparency in governance; amendments to the Electoral Act for credible, free and fair elections which the nation enjoys today at all levels, among scores of other important legislations passed under the PDP-led National Assembly.

    It expressed satisfaction with the performance of the leadership in the last National Assembly, saying it laid “very solid foundation” upon which the nation’s legislature can always leverage for greater productivity in the interest of all.

  • Group faults Mark over National Assembly’s budget

    Group faults Mark over National Assembly’s budget

    A transparency and budget awareness group, BudgIT, has described as false the statement created to the outgoing Senate President, David Mark, that the budget of the National Assembly is open and transparent.

    Mark had said last Monday at a retreat organised for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) National Assembly members-elect in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that the budget of the National Assembly was not a secret.

    But BudgIT, in a statement, said every release of the National Assembly budget in the last five years only presented a single, total figure, without stating how much of taxpayers’ funds went into the personnel cost of assembly’s members.

    It faulted the position of the Senate President, saying it was at odds with transparency norms of any democratic nation.

    The group said Mark was under an “erroneous” impression that a single blanket figure is sufficiently transparent enough.

    “The Overwhelming desire of Nigerians is not Senator Mark’s definition of transparency, but a full, line-by-line declaration of expenditure, available to citizens across every literacy class as evidenced by our #OpenNASS campaign.”

    The group said while it is clear that the National Assembly has N150 billion allocated to it every year in the last four years, there has been very little of details to show how the funds have been disbursed.

    “Since 2011, a sum of N37.5bn on a quarterly basis was given to the National Assembly without any refunds or detail of expenses. This does not follow international practices in the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States (U.S.), where all expense sheets of parliamentarians are available added that it had also sent a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Clerk of the National Assembly requesting detailed breakdown of budget of N600 billion between 2011 to 2014, which was refused by its Legal Services Department, claiming the information is “personal, third party related and protected under Sections 14 and 15 of the Freedom of Information Act.”

    This development, the group noted, necessitated its court action against the National Assembly and called for an immediate end to secrecy regarding the budget of the lawmakers.

    “ We hereby ask Senator Mark to stop being economical with the truth and accept that he presided over a National Assembly that spent N600 billion with no records of accountability and worse still a NASS with no willingness to start becoming accountable to the same Nigerians Senator Mark purports to serve.

    “For the umpteenth time, BudgIT demands a full breakdown of the NASS budget, so we can make it available to the public. The current vagueness of the NASS budget emboldens us to dispute Marks’s spurious claim that lawmakers have made sacrifices by cutting their budget from N150 billion to N115 billion; because there are no documents in the public domain to prove this.

    “We insist that the NASS does not need more than N80 billion to run its operations and therefore challenge Senator Mark  to open his books and allow Nigerians to be the judge of a situation where the lawmakers who spend N600 billion in four years amid widespread socio-economic turmoil can still claim to be making sacrifices.”

  • Senate performed excellently, says Mark

    Senate performed excellently, says Mark

    Outgoing Senate President David Mark yesterday praised the senate for its performance in the last four years.

     Mark, in his contribution at the valedictory session to mark the end of the 7th Senate, said the red chamber recorded landmark achievements.

    Mark said: “Let me in all modesty say that the 7th Senate achieved some measure of success in the areas of the number of bills that were passed, motions moved, in our oversight functions and in our legislative duties.

    “Some landmark bills passed by this Senate include but not limited to; Pension Reform Act 2014, National Health Act, Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act.

    “In addition, we received parliamentary delegations from Gambia, Benin Republic and the China while over 27 delegations from the Senate attended international conferences and seminars. We also honoured invitations from the Parliaments of Czech Republic and China.

    “In spite of the difficult political and economic climate within which we worked and despite our own internal challenges, we can end this Senate convinced that we represented our constituents and Nigerians with the most noble of intentions and to the best of our abilities.

    “I must confess that within the last four years, we matured politically. That was why when some Senators defected from one political party to the other, we still maintained one united Senate.

    “Even though the political intrigues of the last four years sometimes slowed down important legislative business, they nevertheless enriched our democratic understanding and I consider them equally important to the democratic process.

    “It is also important to note that we gave maximum support to the National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS).

    “I am happy that the institute has made remarkable progress in such a short time with its influence extending to other African countries.”

    Despite these achievements  Mark, the 7th Senate could not say it fully achieved its goals.

    He said: “We gave a nod to the clarion call for a national conference but the report unfortunately came very late.

    “However, as much as we tried, we did not meet all the target we set for ourselves.

    “For instance, we were not able to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and our constitution amendment is stalled.

    “Whatever our achievements are, we are all well aware that we are yet to attain our goal. However, the 7th senate has laid a solid foundation which the 8th senate can build upon.

    “I desired and worked for a National Assembly that would have its own Radio and Television Stations, a Specialist Hospital and relocation of the National Institute of Legislative Studies to its permanent site. These projects are ongoing.”

    Outgoing Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba noted that between June 2011 and  June 2015  591 bills were introduced out of which 123 were passed; others are at various stages of legislative processing  and consideration.

    According to him, among the bills considered and passed are bills that have far reaching impact on the polity.

    Ndoma-Egba said within the same period, 115 motions were considered with concomitant resolutions approved.

    He added that despite the penchant of the former President Goodluck Jonathan-led Executive not to comply with National Assembly resolutions, the various resolutions nevertheless served as a moral compass of putting the Executive in check.

    He stated that notwithstanding non-compliance with its resolutions, the Senate effectively collaborated with the Executive in the overall national interest, stabilising the polity without undermining the integrity and independence of the Senate.

    He observed that the 7th Senate, is remarkable for a number of reasons which helped to ensure stability in the polity.

    Ndoma-Egba said: “For once, a party in government lost to a party in opposition; a milestone in our democracy.”

    He noted that there are lessons to be drawn from the last elections, saying: “A second term is no longer taken for granted, incumbency has its limitations, impunity is unsustainable anywhere and internal party democracy is the only assurance to electoral victory.”

    He lamented that effort to give Nigerians a constitution of their dream was frustrated by the Jonathan administration.

    He said: “Even though the review of the 1999 Constitution which is a military contraption was paramount  in the legislative agenda of the 7th National Assembly, its effort to bequeath an acceptable constitution was enmeshed in a legal quagmire induced by the Executive, the entire process, efforts and resources needlessly dissipated.”

    Ndoma-Egba cautioned incoming Senators championing the cause of reducing the salaries and allowances of legislators now perceived to be on the high side, to thread with caution.

    He said: “For those who will soon be members of this hallowed chambers, who believe that they will be gaining mileage by championing long worn fictions of imaginary pay, let me remind you that you will not be the first in this purposeless crusade.

    “Like those before you, you will soon go quiet.”

    Those who witnessed the session included a delegation from the House of Representatives, former Senate Presidents Joseph Wayas, Ame Ebute, Ken Nnamani, former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, and former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin.

  • Senate gives self ‘pass mark’ at valedictory session

    Senate gives self ‘pass mark’ at valedictory session

    Outgoing Senate President, David Mark, in his contribution at the valedictory session to mark the end of the 7th Senate, said the red chamber recorded landmark achievements within the last four years.

    Mark stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators would not partake in the contest for leadership of the 8th Senate.

    According to him, the election will be an All Progressives Congress (APC) affair.

    Earlier, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, extolled Mark’s leadership qualities.

    Akume enjoined him to make the people of Benue proud by supporting and helping to actualize the aspiration of Senator Ahmad Lawan as Senate President and himself as the Deputy Senate President respectively in the 8th Senate.

    In his response, Mark said: “Finally, because Senator Akume also thanked me, let me thank him and remind him that we are in PDP and election of any coming member is the matter for APC not for PDP.”

    On the achievements of the 7th Senate, Mark said: “Let me in all modesty say that the 7th Senate achieved some measure of success going by the number of bills that were passed, motions moved, in our oversight functions and in our legislative duties.

    “Some landmark bills passed by this Senate include but not limited to- Pension Reform Act 2014, National Health Act, Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act. The 7th Senate confirmed a total number of 429 persons between 2011 and 2015.

    “In addition, we received parliamentary delegations from Gambia, Benin Republic and China while over 27 delegations from the Senate attended international conferences and seminars. We also honoured invitations from the Parliaments of Czech Republic and China.

    “In spite of the difficult political and economic climate within which we worked and despite our own internal challenges, we can end this Senate convinced that we represented our constituents and Nigerians with the most noble of intentions and to the best of our abilities.

    “I must confess that within the last four years, we matured politically. That was why when some Senators defected from one political party to the other, we still maintained one united Senate.”