The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has commended the efforts of lawmakers in working assiduously to ensure that the country pulled through 2020, a year he described as trying and challenging.
In an address to wind down the activities of the House for the year during a special plenary in the green chamber, the Speaker cited the coronavirus pandemic as a phenomenon that altered all calculations in 2020 and put the capacities of nations to whither the storm to test.
In the case of Nigeria, Gbajabiamila recalled how the House responded quickly to the pandemic by not only initiating legislative interventions but also giving necessary backing to Executive proposals aimed at taming the deadly virus.
He cited the commitment of lawmakers to pass the 2021 budget of N13.5trillion to maintain the January-December budget cycle and make provisions for development, as one of such sacrifices.
“Today, we have passed the budget in the House of Representatives in good time to maintain the January to December budget cycle in line with the commitments we made when we resumed office. The January to December budget cycle is necessary to ensure effective implementation of our annual budgets to meet our nation’s development challenges”.
Within the limits of our brutal realities, with our options limited by a scarcity of resources, by dilapidated infrastructure and outdated laws, we acted to slow the spread of the disease, to treat the sick, comfort the afflicted and provide for the most vulnerable. The truth is, we have done better than many believed was possible, better than many nations, even the most advanced. Our economy has taken a big hit, but through a partnership with the private sector, the government has been able to prevent the nightmare scenarios that some predicted.”
The House, in an “unprecedented single-day session”, passed the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill to provide targeted economic relief in response to the emerging threat. The 9th House will continue to address the security challenges that threaten our country. We have initiated and will continue efforts to reform the statutory framework for police accountability through the Police Service Commission (Reform) Bill, which has passed second reading.
We worked with the Executive to address medical doctors and healthcare workers’ welfare demands and resolve a labour dispute that would have resulted in strike actions and walkouts with devastating consequences for too many of our citizens, amid a raging and deadly pandemic. Because of the House of Representatives, “Hazard Allowance” became part of the medical and pandemic lexicon. The intervention by the House elevated the welfare of healthcare workers to a ministerial issue and saw to it that these hazard allowances were provided for and paid.”
On security, the Speaker said that ”The 9th House of Representatives has initiated and will continue efforts to reform the statutory framework for police accountability through the Police Service Commission (Reform) Bill, which has passed second reading. We will continue to exercise our constitutional powers of oversight to demand more from the military and security services.”
”At the session, the House passed N13.5trillion as the country’s budget for 2021.
The figure is up by N505bn from the original estimates of N13.08tn President Muhammadu Buhari laid before a joint session of the National Assembly on October 8.
The House approved $40 as the crude oil benchmark for the budget.
It approved N4.1tn for capital expenditure, N5.6tn for recurrent expenditure and N3.3tn for debt servicing.
The sum of N496bn was also approved for statutory transfers by lawmakers on Monday. The House achieved the objective of keeping to the January-December budget cycle by passing the budget after spending slightly over two months at the legislature.” Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said.
