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Tag: NASS

  • NASS will grant Health Bill speedy passage – Mark

    NASS will grant Health Bill speedy passage – Mark

    The Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Thursday gave assurance that the National Health Bill presently before the National Assembly would be given accelerated passage.

    The National Health bill passed by the National Assembly in 2011 was not accented to by President Goodluck Jonathan due to issues raised by some health workers.

    Mark, who gave the assurance while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 13th Board meeting of the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) in Abuja, said the new bill will soon go through second reading in the Senate.

    The return of the bill to the National Assembly, he said, is to allow the lawmakers to make new vital inputs into the document and ensure progress in the health sector.

    He said: “I am more worried that we have genuine problems in our hands and we have to work together to overcome them.

    “It is a blessing in disguise that the Health Bill was not signed into law because we can still make more vital inputs to it now.

    “We have done the first reading and it will soon go for the second reading. We will fast-track the Health Bill.

    The Senate President also harped on the need for proper education in all the country’s geo-political zones in order to ensure separation of religious and cultural matters from health issues.

    “There are so many Islamic countries in the world and they are making progress in the health sector. Religion should not be mixed up with health issues,” Mark said.

    The Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, at the occasion, said: “I want to appreciate the Board for the hosting privilege granted to Nigeria. It is my belief that the opportunity of having the Board meeting will help members understand the progress the country has made, the challenges and our plans in influencing maternal newborn and child health issues.”

     

  • National Assembly will tinker with 2013 budget – Mark

    National Assembly will tinker with 2013 budget – Mark

    Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Wednesday renewed the controversy over whether or not the National Assembly has the power to tinker with the national budget.

    Mark in his speech during the presentation of N4.92 trillion 2013 budget to the Joint Session of the National Assembly reminded President Goodluck Jonathan that the lawmakers are constitutionally empowered to make input into the budget.

    The Senate President specifically told Jonathan that the constitution did not intend to turn the National Assembly into a mere mechanical rubber-stamp that must robotically pass budget estimates as presented.

    Mark noted that the country’s budgets, from his experience since 1999, have been dogged by three main areas of controversy.

    He listed the controversies to include the time of presentation of the estimates to the National Assembly; whether the National Assembly has the constitutional power to make inputs on the budget estimates; and implementation of the budget.

    On the time of presentation, he said that it is gratifying to note that the 2013 budget estimates is being presented unprecedentedly in October, 2012.

    “Yet, Mr. President, a compelling case can still be made for a consistently earlier presentation.

    “This will allow for a meticulous and exhaustive consideration and debate and ensure that we work towards passing it before the end of the year,” he said.

    As to whether the National Assembly has the power to make inputs to Appropriation Bills laid before it, Mark said that “our stand is that parliament is constitutionally empowered to make inputs.”

    According to him “what the Constitution enjoins Mr. President to lay before the National Assembly are mere estimates, not immutable figures.”

    Mark added that once the estimates are so laid, their consideration becomes subject to the constitutionally prescribed modes of exercising legislative power.”

    He said, “Therefore, we do not think that the Constitution intended to turn the National Assembly into a mere mechanical rubber-stamp that must robotically pass budget estimates as presented.

    “However, in exercising this constitutional power, we will be mindful of the fact that the social and economic challenges currently besetting our nation are the severest in our contemporary history. The National Assembly is also conscious of the fact that urgent steps need to be taken to address our dire infrastructural challenges.”

     

  • Jonathan to present 2013 budget Wednesday

    Jonathan to present 2013 budget Wednesday

    President Goodluck Jonathan will present the 2013 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

    The President in a letter addressed to Senate President, David Mark, on Tuesday in Abuja, which was read out to the senators, urged the NASS to allow him to present the budget by 10am.

    The letter reads in part; ‘’As a follow up to my letter of September 21, 2012, I write to crave your kind indulgence to grant me the slot of 10am on Wednesday, October 10, 2012.

    “This is to enable me formerly address a joint session of the National Assembly on the 2013 budget.’’

    Jonathan thanked the senators for their constant support and assured them of his highest esteem.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the president had earlier sought the approval of the NASS to present the budget on October 4, but the date was shifted due to requests by the lawmakers.

    The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, moved a motion, which was unanimously adopted, that the senators move to the House of Representatives Chamber on Wednesday to receive the document.

    The senators, however, resolved to hold plenary session by 9am on Wednesday to enable them quickly deliberate on some issues before the budget presentation.