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Tag: national assembly

  • FG yet to implement new 18 percent CPS, says PenCom DG

    FG yet to implement new 18 percent CPS, says PenCom DG

    The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has appealed to the National Assembly to appropriate sufficient funds under the Federal Government’s Recurrent Expenditure in order to facilitate the implementation of the new eighteen percent (18%) pension contributions rate.

    This appeal is contained in the memorandum submitted to both the Senate committee on establishment and public service at the budget defence session on the 2017 budget estimates for appropriation and The National Assembly joint committee on appropriations at the budget defence session on the 2017 budget estimates for appropriation in Abuja by the Director General of PenCom Mrs. Chinelo Anohu Amazu

    Mrs. Chinelo Anohu Amazu lamented that “the Federal Government is yet to implement the new rate of pension contributions as revised by the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.”

    She also requested the legislators to “consider and ensure the appropriation of adequate funds to facilitate the payment of the following liabilities of the Federal Government in 2017”:

    The sum of N10,194,184,608.00 to pay all outstanding accrued benefits for deceased and mandatory retirees of the Federal Government for the periods September to December 2014.

    The sum of N41, 719,090,082.00 being the shortfall in the 2016 Budget Appropriation.

    The sum of N31,372,380,576.00 being the outstanding mandates for 7 and half months in 2016 in order to effect payment of outstanding accrued benefits for deceased and mandatory retirees of the Federal Government.

    The appropriation of the total sum of N113,023,255,000.00 in the 2017 FGN Appropriation Act in favour of the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund (RBBRF) Account being the Accrued Benefits due to 16,267 retirees/prospective retirees and estimates for deceased employees for year 2017.

    The sum of N79,155,550,000.00 for payment of pension increase for the 79,961 employees who retired under the DC Scheme from 2004 to 2014.

    The sum of N10,039,161,783.00 being the Federal Government’s statutory contribution to the funding of the Pension protection Fund.

    The sum of N440,047,832.00 being the shortfall in the retirement benefits of 24 retired Heads of Civil Service of the Federation and Federal Permanent Secretaries that had earlier enrolled with the Commission and 16 Federal Permanent Secretaries scheduled to retire in 2017.

    The PenCom boss noted that the commission was “compelled, in its budgetary submission to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, to stay within the limits stipulated in the template forwarded to it by the Ministry.”

    However, due to the need for the Commission to expand its activities, they requested for the appropriation of the sum of N5, 000,000,000.00 as Capital Subvention instead of the N750, 000,000.00 allocated.

    The request was broken down into the following project components: Purchase/Acquisition of Land; Remodeling/Construction of Office Building; Remodeling of Head Office; Construction of Zonal Offices; Architectural and Other Development Costs.

    Chinelo Anohu Amazu also requested the legislators to consider and approve the appropriation and release of the sum of N73,091,470,658.00 to pay January to December 2016 retirees of the Federal Government, and to ensure the appropriation of the total sum of N5,099,923,346.00 as Overhead and Capital subvention to facilitate the Commission’s activities in 2017.

    For 2016, the PenCom boss disclosed that the total expenditure against Capital and Overhead Subvention are: Overhead Costs, N68,256,300.86 and Capital ExpenditureN117,842,433.91.

    The unspent 2016 balances withdrawn by Treasury she revealed was for Overhead Subvention: the balance of N3, 757,571.13 million remained unspent against the Overhead Subvention in 2016 as at the close of the year. While for Capital Subvention: the balance of N69, 657,566.09 million remained unspent against the Capital Subvention in 2016 as at the close of the year.

     

  • Senate assures on passage of implementable 2017 budget

    Senate assures on passage of implementable 2017 budget

    The Senate Wednesday assured Nigerians that the National Assembly is working to produce implementable 2017 budget.

    Chairman, Senate Appropriation Committee, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, stated this at the end of a three day national public hearing on the 2017 budget.

    Goje who said that 44 stakeholders made submissions at the hearing noted that the 2017 special budget hearing was perhaps the first of its kind in the history of parliamentary/legislative practice in the National Assembly.

    He said that the level of excitement and enthusiasm shown by stakeholders especially Civil Society Organisations was quite unprecedented and encouraging.

    Goje said that a number of issues that came up will be critically analyzed and addressed

    He noted that pension, health, education and agricultural sectors came up and were given serious emphasis as the areas the country should pay more attention.

    The Gombe central lawmaker said that the challenge in the areas of pension payment, administration and general matters of non-performance was so clear and must be accorded urgent and effective attention.

    He added that the point was repeatedly made that the National Assembly must reassert itself as the possessor of the power of appropriation in order to produce the budget of the people at all times.

    Goje assured that “all proceedings we took have been properly documented and will be presented and considered by the joint committee to enable the National Assembly produce implementable budget for Nigeria and Nigerians.”

  • ‘How National Assembly can serve Nigeria better’

    ‘How National Assembly can serve Nigeria better’

    Hon. Jide Jimoh represents Lagos Mainland Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU on partisan issues.

    What is your mission in the National Assembly?
    Well, my mission in the National Assembly is majorly service to the people through my contribution into making laws that will benefit the generality of the citizenry. And luckily for me, it has been good and interesting. We thank God for that.
    First timers are always swallowed up in the House. Is it different in your own case?
    Going by my political antecedent, you will realize that I am not new to legislative and executive duties. And throughout the world, legislative duties are the same. Legislative duties comprise of three major things namely, passage of Bills, representation and motion. And if you have to go through the main thing which is passage of Bills into Law, we have three major stages; First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading. When you are capable of scaling those huddles, you have passed. And thankfully enough, I have no problem in all those legislative intricacies.
    Does that mean that as a first timer, you have been moving Motions and sponsoring Bills?
    That is stating the obvious. It will interest you to note that I am not a ‘siddon look’ legislator. I am not at all a bench warmer in the National Assembly. From my first day there, I hit the ground running. There has never been a debate on matters of national importance that I have not added my voice. If we are talking about the motions I have moved on the floor, they are more than 26. And if we are talking of Bills, I have sponsored Bills some of which have got to the Third Reading.
    Few of the Motions I have moved were; “Unemployment Crisis: Need for State of Emergency and Legislative Intervention,” (Co-sponsored with Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila).
    It is about the need for the government to create employment opportunities for the teeming majority of our youth. That Motion has been passed into Resolution and thank God for that. Another one is “Matter of urgent public importance: Urgent need to address the poor service delivery of the Nigeria Fire Service.” The Motion seeks for provision of fire fighting machines for every state in the country for effective battle against fire outbreak because fire has no boundary and it has no respect for anything. Thank God, that also has scaled through.
    Others included, Confronting Piracy in the Nigeria Entertainment Industry. Curbing menace of unlatched containers and trucks on the Nigeria highways by the Federal Road Safety Corps and the unbearable traffic nightmares on Nigeria’s major highways. Matter of Urgent Public Importance: International Certificate of Vaccination (a.k.a Yellow Card) for saving Nigeria from global embarrassment as approved by the World health Organization (W.H.O).
    I have also moved a Motion on Education. I can go on and on.
    On Bills, I have sponsored a Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Prosecution Service (NPC) with a view to enhancing the administration of Justice system in Nigeria and for other matters related to it. I have also sponsored a Bill for the establishment of Traditional Medicine Council of Nigeria and for other matters connected with it.
    It is a Bill to assist the orthodox medicine by way of facilitating the system like what is happening in India and some other overseas countries. It is just an alternate way of treatment for our people. That Bill has passed a second reading.
    The last Bill I sponsored was titled: A Bill for an Act to establish Weights and Measures Council for Retail Commodities, to make provision for monitoring and implementation of standardized measures of consumable products and for other related matters. It is about weighing and measurement for commodities in Nigeria. If you travel anywhere in the world, you cannot just enter a super market to buy anything anyhow. You need to weigh it in order to get correct value for you money without cheating. It has to be measured in grams. This Bill will ensure equity among the citizenry if it scales through. And at the end of the day, we will realize that things are done in the normal way. Nigerians need to be properly enlightened on the proper ways of doing things. This Bill has also passed second reading and now moving towards the third reading. And you can be optimistic that a Bill that has gone beyond a second reading has the chance of scaling through to get the President’s assent.
    Coming down home, how visible are you in your constituency?
    With due respect, I would not want to blow my own trumpet on that. I have a very busy and functional constituency office at 362, Borno Way, Alagomeji, Yaba. I will advise that you go to my constituency on a fact finding mission. I can assure you that you will get firsthand information that will convince you about my popularity among my people. Just ask a few people to confirm how visible Jide Jimoh is in his constituency and among his people. Ask them how popular he is as far as political relevance is concerned.
    And again, there are several other things we have to think about. Some people don’t know that Legislature is not Executive. And policies we are trying to put up in Nigeria are different from what are obtainable in other countries that have been practising democracy over the years. If you think that a legislator must come round to execute one project or the other, I will say it is not his duty to do so. But if any legislator does it, let us be informed that he does so from his own personal pocket. It is not part of his responsibility to do it. It is part of the responsibilities of the Executive to do it.
    And I want you to know that during the last year’s Budget Appropriation, I was able to succeed in proving the need to bring a very tangible and solid project to Lagos Mainland Federal Constituency, particularly the moribund Fire Service Station that has been there for years, which is completely dead now. That one will be reactivated and that project, I can assure you, in the next few months, Lagos people will be enjoying that facility.
    What about your own constituency projects?
    It is not Constituency Project per se. They are my own projects I have executed to assist the down trodden people of my constituency, particularly the youth, the widows and the aged. Some of these we have done and we have the record for them. And even if you go to the constituency, people will tell you more. I would not want to blow my trumpet. I challenge people to go there and talk to my good people there.
    We provided tricycles (keke Napep) to assist our youth, we provided molding machines to assist our unemployed people. We have provided grinding machines also to assist our constituents. I have also sunk boreholes within the locality as it is today. I want you to know that we have also provided security apparatus for all the schools, mosques and churches in our area to assist in checkmating crime. And these have been helpful. I know how many of these gadgets I provided and I know how much money we sank into the project.
    I have also helped the aged in terms of provision of cloths, food and accommodation. Provision of houses for people might be difficult for an individual, but the little I can do to assist, I have been doing that. In education, I have also assisted a number of our students in terms of scholarship and other forms of assistance.
    All these projects are the ones executed in the last one and a half year of my being in the National Assembly. If I should start to mentions others executed during my time as a Local Council Chairman, we would not have enough time for that now.

  • National Assembly ‘ll not legislate against any religion, says Saraki

    National Assembly ‘ll not legislate against any religion, says Saraki

    Senate President Bukola Saraki has assured Nigerians that the Senate will not pass any law against their right or freedom of religion.

    Saraki, who spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the close of the 31st National Qur’an Reading Competition, urged religious leaders to use the word of God to spread love, unity and peace.

    He said: “We should tolerate and cultivate harmonious relationship and understanding among ourselves.”

    The Senate president enjoined Nigerians to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari’s quick recovery.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said the use of religion to perpetrate violence was unfortunate, given the emphasis on peace and justice by Christianity and Islam.

    He said it was the responsibility of Nigerians to resist, through peaceful means, those bent on misrepresenting religion and fomenting conflict.

    Ahmed said: “As a government focused on sustaining peaceful co-existence, we will ensure peace and harmonious relations based on the principles of justice, fairness and equity.”

    He said he was committed to distribution of infrastructure and implementation of socio-economic programmes, adding that no community will be excluded from the benefits of prosperity on account of its religious or political inclination.

    The Sultan of Sokoto and National President of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, hailed the Lagos State government for the judgment on the use of hijab in public schools.

    He said religious leaders should prioritise “what will unite us rather than what will divide us.”

    The Sultan advised the National Assembly not to pass any legislation that prevents anyone from practice of his religion.

    He prayed for President Buhari’s quick recovery.

  • Saraki lists Senate plans to lift Nigeria out of recession 

    Saraki lists Senate plans to lift Nigeria out of recession 

    …Says 2015 elections in Nigeria sets new standard for African countries

     

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Thursday told the visiting European Union (EU) delegation  that the National Assembly was working on legislations aimed at pulling Nigeria  out of the current economic recession.

    Saraki also commended the EU for monitoring the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, which he said has set new standards for other African countries to emulate.

    The Senate President, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media, Chuks Okocha, told the EU delegation on Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group led by Mr. Santiago Fisas that the legislators are aware that without good economy that can sustain improved standard of living of the ordinary Nigerians, the legislature would not be seen to have succeeded.

    He said the Senate for example has identified 11 economic recovery bills which can help to create a veritable environment for private investment to thrive, jobs to be created, infrastructure to improve and the national Gross Domestic Product to rise.

    Saraki said, “We are focusing on the economy. We are working on how to continue to improve the economy. We are making all efforts to get us out of recession. We have our economy recovery plan. We are also looking at some priority Bills, infrastructure sector that will help to enable private sector participation which will bring more money for government in the social services sector, like education and health.”

    He commended the EU role during the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria as he saying, “For the first time we have been able to transfer power from one party to the other and in a peaceful manner. I think it has sent signal all over Africa. There was a peaceful transition in Ghana as well. It was almost done in The Gambia, but I don’t know what happened but we finally did it.”

    Saraki noted that “It is clear that whatever we have done well in Nigeria, has effect all over the continent. I hope that is the beginning of smooth transition. I want the EU to continue with the role you played and we thank God that it went well. I commend you and hope that it will encourage you to come back when next needed.

    “Let me also thank EU for picking our member in the National Assembly here as one of your partners. I know that in achieving that, Nigeria sees it as a positive move, and that you recognised us as important partner.

    “I discussed widely with some of our colleagues in the House of Representatives. They talked about democracy and election issues and as a government, I am sure they might have mentioned it to you, we are at the final stage of reviewing some of the existing laws that guide our elections.

    “We have learnt some lessons from the 2015 elections and we would see how we can improve on existing laws and see that new amendments when passed, will strengthen our democracy. Our focus is on the humanitarian crisis in the North East. We are also making an attempt on parliamentary actions on what we can do on gender issues.

    “There has been stop and start but I know we will get there. We are addressing that also. So, in the area of partnership, I hope you have been discussing with some of our colleagues on framework with the area of focus we can look at, where there can be partnership and can also be support for legislators. I think that will help us because we are going towards a period of time where we are looking at some of our laws that have been existing for more than two three, four decades with a view to review them.  Now and we have time to review someone them.

    “With what is going on now, it is time we brought those laws in line with today’s economy. So, this will help you determine the kind of support the legislators needs to help them address the challenges ahead for the country.

    “By and large, we talked about open parliament. For the first time, I think by next week, we are going to have a public hearing on the budget process to enable members of the public to have a say in the making of the Appropriation law. It has never happened before. We have not done this before. What we used to do is when we get the budget, we send it to Committees for defence. Now, we are engaging the public to improve the participation of the public in the budget processes”, Saraki explained.

    Leader of the EU delegation,  Fisas said their visit was to explore ways of enhancing the partnership between the European Union and the  Nigerian Parliament, particularly on how to deepen democracy, Human Rights, poverty alleviation, gender parity, Civil Society and Media interaction and how to find solutions emanating thereof.

    “We believe that relationship between states and the parliaments are important for the growth and development of democracy and development”, said Fisas who added that already the EU Parliament has entered into similar partnership with other countries like Ukraine, Georgia, Honduras, among others.

    He said the EU knew the importance of Nigeria in Africa and that fact informed the extension of its hands of fellowship to Nigeria’s parliament.

    Also speaking during the meeting, Senator Kabiru Gaya who was recently elected Vice President of the Inter Parliamentary Union of the African Group said the delegation had already met with the speaker of the House of Representatives and other officials of the National Assembly.

     

  • Presidency sends Onnoghen name to Senate for confirmation as CJN

    Presidency sends Onnoghen name to Senate for confirmation as CJN

    The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday forwarded the name of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to the National Assembly for confirmation as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

    The Nation reports that the news of the nomination was made known by the presidency through its twitter handle @NGRPresident on Wednesday.

    It would be recalled that there has been series of agitation from different quarters urging the presidency to forward Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation following the retirement of Justice Mahmud Mohammed.

    Onnoghen was born on December 22, 1950 and has been a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria since 2005.

    He graduated from the University of Ghana at Legon, Ghana in 1977 and from the Nigerian Law School in Lagos in 1978.

    Before joining the Supreme Court, he was a judge in Cross River State and a justice of the Court of Appeal.

  • ‘No secrecy in National Assembly budget’

    ‘No secrecy in National Assembly budget’

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation Senator Ali Wakili has debunked insinuations of secrecy in the annual budget of the National Assembly, saying the budget was open and accessible.

    Wakili, who spoke at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, explained that the assembly’s budget had always been captured in the Appropriation Bill usually presented by the president.

    He said in recent time, the National Assembly budget had been on decline following the economic recession facing the country.

    “It is part of the national budget presented by the president. Some six years ago, the budget of the National Assembly was constant at N150 billion.

    “Two years ago, because of the exigency of the Nigeria state, where there was no fund, the 7th Assembly, before it left, had to cut the budget to N120 billion from N150 billion.

    “Last year, that is the 8th Assembly, our budget was N115 billion and it was captured in the Federal Government budget.

    “Out of this N115 billion, we have the House of Representatives, we have the Senate, we have 365 members of House of Representatives and 109 senators.

    “Then, we have the bureaucracy of the National Assembly in terms of the staff, from the Clerk to everybody.

    “We also have the Nigeria Institute of Legislative Studies, the National Assembly Service Commission, with the paraphernalia of its staff.

    “All of us take from this N115 billion. So, I don’t know where the issue of secrecy is,’’ he said.

    On constituency intervention projects, Wakili said it was a lump sum provided by the Federal Government, which went across the states and the geo-political zones.

    He said the total sum of the projects was not more than N60 billion, explaining that each geo-political zone took N10 billion, which was further sub-divided, depending on the number of states within each zone.

    He dismissed as false the salary of the lawmakers, especially as being conveyed by the social media.

    Wakili said the emolument of the lawmakers was fixed by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

    “My salary is not more than N774,000 and with other allowances.

    “I was complaining at plenary that the Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Power, in one  go are buying vehicles worth N1.23 billion and at another, they are buying with N590 million.

    “But, for senator, we are buying these vehicles once in our four years tenure and Nigerians went as if heavens were failing.”

  • NASS presiding officers got no accommodation money from FCTA – Dogara

    NASS presiding officers got no accommodation money from FCTA – Dogara

    Presiding Officers of the National Assembly did not receive any money for accommodation from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has said.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser Media & Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, reacting to an online publication on the issue, Dogara said the story should be discountenanced unless evidence was produced.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a story published by an online media platform, Sahara Reporters, where it was alleged, without any shred of evidence as always that presiding officers of the National Assembly including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, collected money from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for rent of their official residences.

    “The report, which was credited to a group known as Citizen Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN), deliberately set out to misrepresent and distort facts with the aim of blackmailing the persons of the presiding officers and the Legislature as an institution.

    “Presiding officers of the National Assembly are entitled to official accommodation which is provided for by the FCDA as host of the National Assembly. The same is applicable to the President, Vice President and the Chief Justice of Nigeria because their offices were not covered by the monetisation policy. Consequently, no National Assembly presiding officer receives any money from any other source for accommodation or rent.

    “The FCDA is solely responsible for providing official accommodation for presiding officers of the National Assembly and how it goes about it is entirely its business and not that of any presiding officer. It’s callous, wicked and evil for any news medium to seek to perpetuate the mendacity that National Assembly Presiding officers collected money from FCDA without any form of evidence whatsoever.

    “The public should discountenance the story in its entirety unless of course the so called Sahara Reporters put out evidence of the trace of any such funds to the Presiding officers.

    “We challenge those undertakers and merchants of lies for filthy lucre to tell the Public which countries of the world allow presiding officers of their Parliament to live in their personal houses.

    “Certain officers of state were excluded from monetisation policy because of the nature of offices they hold that involves hosting certain level of official guests and other sundry activities.  Should Nigeria’s case be different?”

  • SON lauds National Assembly

    SON lauds National Assembly

    Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Director General Mr. Osita Aboloma has hailed the National Assembly for empowering the agency to combat the influx, production and distribution of substandard products.
    He said the passage of the SON Act 14 of 2015 provided the leeway for the organisation to prevent suspected substandard products from circulation, even while investigations to ascertain the compliance to relevant standards were being carried out.
    Aboloma hailed the general provisions in the new SON Act, which gave the agency the power to prosecute perpetrators of substandard products manufacture, importation and distribution.
    He added that the law provided stiffer penalties for convictions, including jail terms. The Act also empowers SON to seize and dispose of non-compliant products through destruction, among others.
    Aboloma, who spoke while inspecting seized substandard products at the SON warehouse in Lagos, stressed that the National Assembly had shown commitment to the eradication of substandard products.
    The SON Director General described substandard products as a serious social and economic challenge, which required the efforts of patriots to contend with in addition to adequate financial resources, manpower and technology deployment .
    Aboloma said his agency was strengthening its internal mechanisms to combat substandard products and urged Nigerians to partner SON to create opportunities for genuine and certified locally manufactured products to thrive.
    “This will improve capacity utilisation, create massive employment opportunities and a more robust economy for the nation,” he said.
    The SON chief executive described as unfounded insinuations that SON undermined the National Assembly, adding that nothing could be further from the truth.
    He affirmed his high respect for members of the National Assembly, particularly in the course of their oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
    The SON D-G pledged his commitment to protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians as well the nation’s economy through the instruments of standardisation and quality assurance.

  • SON Boss lauds NASS on fight against substandard products

    SON Boss lauds NASS on fight against substandard products

    The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma has given thumbs up to the National Assembly for empowering the agency to combat the influx, production and distribution of substandard products in the country.

    According to him, the passage of the SON Act 14 of 2015 has provided the leeway for the organisation to prevent suspected substandard products from circulation even while investigations to ascertain the compliance to relevant standards are being carried out.

    Mr. Aboloma commended the general provisions in the new SON Act giving the agency the power to prosecute perpetrators of substandard products manufacture, importation and distribution while also providing stiffer penalties for convictions including jail terms. The Act also empowers SON to seize and dispose of non-compliant products including through destruction, he said.

    Aboloma stated these while inspecting seized substandard products at the SON warehouse in Lagos, stressing that the National Assembly had in words and deeds shown great commitment to the eradication of substandard products in the country.

    The SON Director General described substandard products as a serious social and economic challenge which require the concerted efforts of all patriots to contend with in addition to provision of adequate financial resources, manpower and technology deployment .

    Aboloma said his agency was strengthening its internal mechanisms to combat substandard products head on and urged all Nigerians to join hands with SON in order to create greater opportunities for genuine and certified locally manufactured products to thrive.

    This will improve capacity utilization, create massive employment opportunities and a more robust economy for the Nation, he said.

    The SON Chief Executive described as unfounded recent insinuations of undermining or casting the National Assembly in bad light, adding that nothing could be further from the truth.

    He affirmed his high respect for members of the National Assembly particularly in the course of their oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies, adding that such are aimed at making Nigeria a better place to live.

    The SON DG said there are abundant evidences of the sterling contributions of the National Assembly to the course of the country’s developmental strides, stressing that no right-thinking person would undermine such.

    He referred to recent assurances from the leaderships of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Industry to the SON as evidence of the National Assembly’s full backing to his agency to deliver on its mandate to Nigerians.

    Mr. Aboloma expressed his appreciation for the collaborative efforts existing between the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Assembly in the bid to improve the lives of Nigerians through Standards.

    The SON DG then pledged his total commitment to protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians as well its economy using the instruments of standardization and quality assurance.