Senate Holds Valedictory Session, Reels Out Achievements

After four years of lawmaking and supervising the works of the executive, where 591 bills were introduced out of which 123 bills were passed, the seventh Senate has officially come to an end.

The Nigerian Senate has held a valedictory session to mark the end of the seventh Assembly, to look back at some of the key moments in the Upper Chamber and set an agenda for the incoming Assembly.

The legislators were joined by some prominent former lawmakers inside the Senate chamber, who came to take part in the valedictory session.

For most of the Senators, it was the last time they would be sitting in the chamber.

The Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, set the ball rolling, speaking on some of the achievements of the seventh assembly.

The floor was then thrown open as lawmakers reminisced on their experiences in the last four years and the lessons learnt.

Despite the achievements of the seventh Senate, the upper chamber did not get around to enacting one critical law, Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which Nigerians expected they would.

The bill was immersed in controversies and lawmakers could not resolve the grey areas in the bill.

The Senate did not also attend to the reports of some critical investigations such as the report on the probe of the Immigration recruitment tragedy and the report on the investigation into the management of fuel subsidy.

The Upper Chamber also left behind the investigation on the mystery of the dead bodies found in Ezu River in Anambra State, the Malabo Oil Field transaction probe, as well as the investigation of the management of funds in Nigeria’s embassies and foreign missions.

No explanation had been given on why the reports were not considered, despite months of investigations.

All these now belong to the realm of history and it is left to the incoming eight Assembly to resurrect these reports, do justice to them and learn from the mistakes of the seventh Assembly.

However, the House of Representatives, on the same day, considered the report of its Adhoc Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill and passed the bill.