President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the incoming senators of the 9th Assembly to do things differently from the outgoing senators to enable his government achieve its goal of transforming the country.
Speaking to state governors and senators-elect of the All Progressives Congress, APC, whom he hosted to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday night, Buhari noted that many actions of the 8th senate were regrettable.
He especially decried what he described as the “deliberate and persistent delay in passing the nation’s annual budget by the national assembly,” which he implied was to blame for his government’s inability to achieve its transformations goals for the nation.
He also admonished the senators-elect to be selfless in their service to the nation.
“This is my fifth and last time of standing for an election – for that reason I’ll like to leave something behind. And what I want to leave cannot be successfully done without your support.
“So, that is why I’m appealing for your support. What happened in the last senate and so on is regrettable because I still feel it shouldn’t take seven months to pass a budget. You have a very, very serious job ahead of you.
“So, what I’m appealing is that any major decision you are going to take please reflect more on the country than yourself as a person – what effect will it have on the country,’’ the President said.
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While thanking the governors and senators-elect for their support and understanding, he promised to work and partner with the 9th national assembly to promote peace, stability and economic prosperity in the country.
The National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, who addressed State House correspondents after the dinner, said the purpose of the event was to bring the new and old senators together and to establish a new relationship between the executive and the legislature.
“The system talks about the separation of powers between the executive and legislature and the two must handshake for things to happen.
“And when you have a president that is determined to drive changes, fundamental changes that will affect our habits, our life style, review the economy, deal with the security situation, fight corruption as fiercely as he is trying to do, he will need a very supportive legislative arm of government. And happily, the Nigerian people have given us the number in the legislative arm of government.
“All we have agreed today is that we will use these numbers as a functioning whole to determine the leadership of the senate in a way that we are not going to go to the floor of the senate and allow the opposition dictate who becomes the senate president. Because, we have comfortable majority to drive that, what we have to do is to manage that majority.’’
