Tag: Senate

The Senate yesterday approved the nominations of Dr. Olatunji Bello for appointment as the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman (CEO/EVC) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

It also approved the nomination of Dr. Jobson Eseodion Ewalefoh for appointment as the Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

Their confirmation came on a day that the upper legislative chamber considered the report presented by the Senator Sadiq Suleiman-led Committee on Trade and Investment

Read Also: Senate okays Tunji Bello as FCCPC boss

Suleiman is representing Kwara North Senatorial Zone on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Bello and Ewalefoh were cleared as CEOs of FCCPC and ICRC after the lawmakers gave approval to the committee report during plenary.

The FCCPC new boss served in Lagos as Commissioner for the Environment and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) at various times.

The Senate on Tuesday, July 23, approved the nomination of Dr. Olatunji Bello for appointment as the chief executive officer/executive vice-chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

The confirmation was a sequel to the consideration of the report of the Committee on Trade and Investment presented by its chairman, Senator Sadiq Suleiman, (APC-Kwara North), during plenary.

Also on Tuesday, July 23, the Senate approved the nomination of Dr. Jobson Eseodion Ewalefoh for appointment as the director-general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

Read Also: FCCPC to tackle market cartel on downward review of prices

The approval followed the consideration and approval of the report of the Committee on Trade and Investment chaired by Senator Sadiq (Kwara North) during plenary.

The Nigerian Senate has identified collaboration as a crucial means for the country to achieve its targets for Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senate Ipalibo Harry Banigo, the federal government’s efforts to rejuvenate the nation’s health systems may fail without the collaboration of all critical stakeholders in the health sector.

Banigo spoke in Abuja recently during the Fifth Annual Legislative Summit on Health, themed ‘Improving Legislative Stewardship and Accountability for Universal Health Coverage’ where a diverse group of leaders, policymakers, and experts strategized on strengthening the nation’s healthcare infrastructure.

The three-day event, convened by Sen. Banigo’s Senate Health Committee on Health, featured prominent attendees including the coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate; the Special Adviser to the President on Health, Salma Ibrahim Anas; the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on HIV, AIDS, TB, and Malaria, Hon. Amobi Ogah; the Country Director of PharmAccess, Njide Ndili; as well as legislators from 19 states.

Underscoring the pressing need for improvements in Nigeria’s health development indices, Banigo called for decisive action to address existing gaps in healthcare delivery. 

While emphasising the legislature’s crucial role in safeguarding public health, she said, “This gathering underscores the vital role of the legislature in ensuring the health and well-being of our citizens.

“We believe that through collaboration, dialogue, sharing notes, speaking to each other, and translating knowledge, we can work towards improving healthcare and making life more meaningful for Nigerians across the country. 

“No part of Nigeria should be left out; everyone is important, and our healthcare should reach them all”. 

However, the lawmaker emphasized the role that health budget allocations must be both adequate and meticulously managed to ensure that every naira invested results in measurable health benefits for the people.

On his part, the coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, who also highlighted the urgent need for the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) to address the country’s pressing healthcare issues, pointed out that the Federal and State governments have taken the issue of the rejuvenation of the sector more seriously.

Referencing a recent People’s Voices Survey involving 2,500 participants, which revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the healthcare system due to disease burden, affordability, and quality of care, Pate noted, “Despite significant spending, health outcomes are not meeting expectations compared to countries with similar or lower investment levels.” 

Read Also: Ndume breaks silence, says removal as senate chief whip ‘an act of God’

The Minister further emphasized the importance of mobilizing resources, prioritizing healthcare at all levels, and enhancing the impact and transparency of regulatory bodies such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

“Plans include expanding primary healthcare centres from 1,800 to 17,000 by 2027 and retraining 120,000 frontline health workers. 

“Revitalizing federal institutions and teaching hospitals to focus on specialized treatment and promoting local production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices are also key objectives. 

“An MOU with Afreximbank for a billion dollars in private-sector financing has been signed to support these initiatives. 

“Strengthening the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), improving surveillance systems, and maintaining strategic stockpiles are also part of the strategy,” he added.

Contributions to a panel discussion titled ‘Leveraging Digital Health and Data Governance for UHC – Implications for Legislature’, the Country Director of PharmAccess Nigeria, Ndili emphasized the importance of leveraging digital innovations to improve data management, enhance telemedicine services, and address legislative challenges. 

She highlighted how digital innovations could bridge gaps in healthcare delivery, particularly in remote and underserved areas, by providing more accurate diagnostics, personalized treatment plans, and efficient healthcare management.

Ndili underscored the transformative potential of digital innovations in revolutionizing health services across Nigeria, advocating for its integration to ensure sustainable health delivery and enhanced patient outcomes. 

“Digital health technologies are crucial in our quest to achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria. By harnessing these innovations, we can enhance efficiency, improve health outcomes, and ensure that no Nigerian is left behind. 

“Legislative support is essential in scaling these solutions and ensuring their sustainability,” she said.

Assuring private sector active support, Ndili said PharmAccess remains committed to partnering with legislative bodies, government agencies, and stakeholders to bridge healthcare gaps and support the government’s goal of achieving sustainable health outcomes for all Nigerians

The panel featured health experts, including Niyi Osamiluyi, Convener of the Africa Digital Health Summit (ADHS) and CEO of PHS Consult; Femi Olapegba, CEO of Digital Health Platform Limited, Lagos; and Dr. Gbenga Ijaodola, Deputy Director of Research and Knowledge Management and Program Manager of the Nigeria Digital-In-Health Initiative, recommended several critical measures to enhance digital health transformation. 

The experts emphasized the need for inter-ministerial collaboration to invest in foundational elements such as electricity, digital literacy, data, and connectivity, which are essential for digital advancement. 

The panel also advocated for enabling laws to support the scaling of private sector innovations and ensure robust health data governance to protect citizens’ rights. 

Additionally, they stressed the importance of financial inclusion laws to accelerate mobile money adoption for the unbanked and called for the establishment of interoperability standards to facilitate seamless health data exchange.

The Senate on Thursday threw out a Bill that seeks to establish an agency to regulate road transport and the transportation profession in Nigeria.

The bill, sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Oyelola Ashiru, failed to scale a second reading because of the popular opinion of lawmakers that Nigeria doesn’t need additional agency at the moment.

Senators rather expressed willingness to support any legislation that would reduce the number of federal agencies in line with Stephen Orosanye’s report currently being implemented by the Federal Government.

In his contribution to the debate on the Bill, a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Senator Adams Oshiomhole, vehemently opposed the bill.

Oshiomhole said, “The police have the traffic division and they do their job so diligently so that if there are roadblocks you will find them trying to manage traffic. If there are accidents they do everything to establish who is wrong, who is right, and prepare to go to court if the party decides to go to court.”

He also said the Federal Road Safety Commission was later established to manage and regulate traffic situation across the country.

Oshiomhole, however, expressed regrets that the FRSC had not been performing its responsibility as expected.

He said: “Thereafter, we set up the Federal Road Safety Commission. I don’t know the experience of my fellow distinguished senators. If you ask me, I do not think even the Road Safety Commission has added value to road transportation, whether it is promoting safety using the traffic laws.

“I think what we need is to make existing institutions work. Where they fail to work, we evoke sanction. Just recently, I had a conversation with a fellow senator in these chambers.

“I think this House must be seen to act in a manner that is in tune with those broad policy statements that we have accepted, namely to avoid multiplication of agencies that have duplicated functions.

“Why Nigeria is committed to cutting federal government excessive overhead expenditure, more agencies should not be created.

Read Also: Senate withdraws South-south Development Commission Bill

“I think many of us have reservations about the incompetence of the Nigeria Road Safety Commission, which is my view, that they are incompetent, they are not adding value, and yet they are doing so much for the public treasury.

“Let us, in line with the core spirit of cutting down costs, meet other more challenging expenses. We don’t need to create agencies for everything.”

Other senators who contributed and opposed the bill are, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan; and Victor Umeh, among others.

The Senate on Thursday, July 18, passed for a second reading a Bill that seeks to reform the Insurance Industry in Nigeria.

The Bill titled: “The Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Bill, 2024” was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru (APC – Lagos East), and 41 other Senators.

Senator Abiru, in his lead debate, said the Bill seeks to provide a comprehensive legal framework for the regulation and supervision of all manner of insurance businesses in Nigeria.

He decried the low penetration of insurance services in Nigeria, despite being one of the oldest industries in the nation’s financial services sector.

According to him, the penetration rate of insurance services in Nigeria is 0.5%, ranking 70th globally and 5th in Africa.

Abiru said: “With its young and vibrant population and growing GDP, the potential for exponential growth is undeniable.

“However, to truly thrive in the next decade, the industry must reform in order to take advantage of the opportunities and contribute to economic growth in the country”.

According to Senator Abiru, most extant laws that regulate the practice of various insurance businesses in the country, like the Insurance Act, 2003, the Marine Insurance Act, the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria Act, and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation Act, have become obsolete and ineffective in the wake of innovations and dynamics that have characterized the practices of insurance in recent time.

“All these legislations, having surpassed a two-decade mark, lack provisions that can adequately address contemporary challenges and support growth & innovations within the industry.

“This legal obsolescence has led to some level of regulatory inefficiencies in the insurance industry.

“This has also hampered the industry’s ability to successfully compete on a global level, underscoring the necessity of a thorough assessment and update to improve the international competitiveness of Nigeria’s insurance industry.”

He enumerated the objectives of the bill to include consolidation of various existing pieces of legislation regulating the conduct of insurance businesses in Nigeria such as the Insurance Act, 2003 the Marine Insurance Act, the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria Act, and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation Act.

The bill, he said, also seeks to provide a robust legal and regulatory framework that will ensure that the Insurance sector contributes positively to the principal objective of the Financial System Strategy to make Nigeria Africa’s financial hub and one of the 20 largest economies in the world; evolve effective risk-based supervision, in the regulatory system as the existing rule-based supervision, enabled by the current laws has become obsolete;

Others are to fast-track the process of managing weak companies as the existing legislation is not efficient for effective distress management and review the penalties as the ones prescribed in the existing laws are inadequate and not deterrent enough.

Read Also: Senate withdraws South-south Development Commission Bill

The objectives also include the need to ensure ethical practice and international best practices as required by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and the need for a legal and regulatory framework that allows the supervisory authority to deal promptly with issues evolving from the dynamism of the insurance business.

Senators in their contributions unanimously supported the bill, saying it would help to revolutionise the insurance sector in Nigeria.

The Bill was later referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions for further legislative work and to report back to plenary in one week.

A bill seeking to establish the South-South Development Commission was on Thursday, July 18, withdrawn by the Senate.

Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, decided that the Bill be stepped down when he noticed that the majority of lawmakers were opposed to it.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC-Cross River South).

However, as soon as he concluded his lead debate, the bill was immediately opposed by senators who spoke after him.

Two of them from the North, senators Adamu Aliero and Abdul Ningi, said the proposed commission would amount to a duplication of the functions of the existing Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and advised the Senate to drop it.

Read Also: BREAKING: Senate moves to establish Local Government Electoral Commission

“This will make the Senate a laughing stock”, Aliero said.

There was also murmuring on the floor following the opening of the debate.

Akpabio quickly called for the votes to step down the bill, which was unanimously endorsed by senators.

Senate President Godswill on Wednesday effected a minor reshuffle in the Standing Committees of the Senate.

This followed the sack of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume as Majority Whip by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the elevation of Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC – Borno North) as his replacement.

Akpabio said: “With the elevation of Distinguished Senator Tahir Monguno to the position of the Majority Whip of the Senate, his committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters will now go to the only Senior Advocate of Nigeria that we have in the 10th Senate.

“Senator Adegbonmire Adeniyi SAN
now becomes the Senate Chairman on Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

“The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tourism becomes Senator Muhammad Ali Ndume.

“The Chairman of the Senate committee on the proposed Reparation and Repatriation becomes Senator Ned Nwoko.

Read Also: PDP governors seek political solution to end Rivers crisis

“The deputy chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation in line with our earlier practice lies with Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno in addition to being the Chief Whip of the Senate.

“The Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tourism is Senator Anthony Ani.

“In line with the spirit of togetherness and forgiveness, Senator Abdul Ningi retains his earlier position of Senate Committee Chairman on Population.

“The Chairman, Senate Committee on Institutions, becomes Senator, Simon Lalong.

“Senator Saliu Mustafa, becomes the chairman of Senate Committee on Livestock Development, a new ministry just created. Any further changes shall be announced in due course.”