President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday, said that the Senate would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the end of 2020.
It could be recalled that efforts to reform the nation’s petroleum industry in the last two decades have not yielded result.
Lawan made this known in his speech while inaugurating the 70 Standing Committees of the Senate at plenary in Abuja.
He called on security related committees of the Senate to work towards the overall review of the nation’s security both in “architecture and structure” as a way of curbing the rising security challenges in the country.
He also called on the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government to cooperate with committees of the National Assembly to enhance their job.
Lawan said: “Our petroleum industry is almost stagnant and for long needing profound reform.
“Our oil and gas related committees, are therefore expected to work hard to take the lead in our determination to reform this vital sector.
“It is the desire, indeed the design of this Senate that, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed before the end of 2020.”
He lamented that the nation’s security agencies have continued to perform below desired standards which is to provide adequate security for all citizens.
He said that the security agencies require better funding for them to perform optimally.
“As security is a fundamental responsibility of government, no amount of investment is too much,” the President of the Senate said. “Our security related committees are therefore challenged to assess and review both the architecture and structure of our security agencies towards improved efficiency.”
He insisted that the Senate expects the total cooperation of the executive arm of government towards the discharge of their legislative duties.
“The Senate expects the Honourable Ministers and head of agencies of government to be forthcoming and responsive to the engagement requests of our committees.
“Our committees will undertake regular oversights with a view to ensuring that government programmes and projects are properly executed for the benefit of our citizens,” Lawan said.
He noted that as standing committees are the engine rooms of the legislature, so are the MDAs to the executive.
“This is why there is the need for cooperation, consultation, partnership and synergy between the two arms of government.
“The Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are hereby called upon to harness the opportunity of the existence of the committees in the execution of their mandates. We must have a unity of purpose,” he said.
He said that the inauguration of the standing Committees of the Senate on Wednesday was to make the Senators fully ready to perform their functions.
“The Senate received the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), this morning,” Lawan said. “As the preparations for the Appropriation 2020 is on top gear, and could be received soon, our committees need to be ready to perform their functions. Time, therefore, is of essence.”
He said while the challenge of unemployment is daunting, the country is equally blessed with abundant arable land for agriculture.
He said: “We are similarly endowed with abundant solid minerals in all parts of our country.
“The oil and gas resources have remained our major source of revenue. Our challenges can be appropriately addressed with our rich endowments. What we require therefore is the strategic deployment of those resources.
“We can plan and use our agricultural potentials to achieve not only national food security, but also process for exports.
“Again, our solid minerals sector is largely untapped and we can exploit those resources through the right policies and supportive legislations.
“We need to also focus on human capital development.
“It is inevitable that we have to improve government investments in education and health, if we want to create the critical mass of workforce for the knowledge-based economy of present times,” Lawan said.