#8thAssemblyAt1 Dogara's Full Speech

ADDRESS BY HON. SPEAKER, RT. HON. DOGARA YAKUBU HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE 8TH HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON 9TH JUNE, 2016

Protocols:

1. Honourable Colleagues, today, 9th June, 2016 marks one year anniversary of the inauguration of the 8th House of Representatives.

2. Permit me to request that we cast our minds back to that historic day when we were sworn in as members of the House of Representatives in this hallowed chambers. That event was greeted with a lot of hope and expectations from Nigerians after a common sense revolution swept aside the ruling party and ushered in the opposition into office for the first time in Nigeria’s modern political history. There was not just a change of guards at the Executive level, but also at the Legislature as well. The change involved both political parties and personnel.

#8thSenateAt1: Saraki's full Speech

On the 9th of June 2015 the 8th National Assembly was inaugurated and Senator Bukola Saraki and Senator Ike Ekweremmadu  swiftly emerged as senate president and deputy while Yakubu Dogara and Yusuf Suleiman Lasu as the speaker and deputy speaker of the house of representative.

As the 8th Assembly marks its first year today, the Chairman of  National Assembly Bukola Saraki in a speech presented to mark the Anniversary congratulated his colleagues and noted the key achievements so far while urging them to do more to serve the nation better.

National Assembly receives Ambassadorial List (FULL LIST)

As the 8th Assembly marks it's one year in office today,  President Muhammadu Buhari's sent a list of names for consideration of the National Assembly for Ambassadorial position,

See the full list of Nigerian Ambassador sent to the Nigerian Senate today.

1. Obinna Chukwuemeka
2. Salisu Umoru
3. Iyang Udoh Iyang
4. okeke Vivian Nwanaku
5. Niman Munir
6. Edem Jane Ada
7. Muhammed Hassan Hassan 

World Press Freedom Day: Saraki lauds Nigerian Media

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki on Tuesday congratulated all practitioners in the media across the country and the world for their invaluable service to humanity as they celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.

Saraki in a statement signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, also hailed all Nigerians on the occasion and said that the freedom of the press also connotes the freedom of individuals to partake in the governance of the country, discuss issues and freely give expression to their dreams and aspiration within the ambience of the law.

NASS gate sealed as Group storm Assembly in protest.

 The gate leading to the National Assembly was on Tuesday, locked down to forestall two groups of protesters from gaining entrance into the National Assembly Complex.

The two group of protesters stormed the National Assembly in protest of myriad of issue bothering on the National Assembly.

PIB set to Pass Second Reading in the 8th Senate

The controversial Petroleum Industry and Governance bill that scaled the sixth and seventh Senate without success is finally set to pass second reading in the 8^th Senate.

The bill for an act to provide for the Governance and Institutional framework for the Petroleum Industry and for other matters connected therewith sponsored by Senator Omotayo D. Alsoadura (Ondo Central) was set to pass second reading today but was however stalled for lawmakers to study the bill properly.

OpenNASS: Senate sets new deadline to publish NASS budget breakdown

The Senate on Monday in Abuja, set a new deadline for publishing the breakdown of its N115 billion budget for 2016.

The Spokes Person of the Senate Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, disclosed to news men that the breakdown of the National Assembly budget would be contained in the 2016 Budget details that would be released.

BREAKING NEWS: Senate Passes 2016 Budget

The Nigeria senate on Wenesday after considering the report of the Conference Committee on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Frame work (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper, (FSP) considered and passed the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

The lawmakers in the committee of supply critically reviewed  and approved the  11 clause budget in its totality.

Details later....

National Assembly fails to lay Budget: sets new date

The National Assembly on Thursday, failed to lay the 2016 budget for commencement of consideration and passage as promised but has set a new date for laying the budget document.

The spokesperson of the Senate Sen. Abdulahi Sabi on Wednesday at a joint news conference said that the National Assembly would be unable to pass the budget on March 17 as earlier promised.

NESG: Why the Legislature Must Give Priority to Business Environment

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) has underscored the importance of the legislature in ensuring a conducive and business-friendly environment for the growth and development of any economy. 

The Chairman of the Board of the NESG, Mr. Kyari Bukar, who stated this during the formal presentation of the Business Environment Legislative Review Report to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki in Abuja, said that without such proactive interventions, the nation risks losing the few jobs available as well as the opportunity of moving significantly upwards in the doing business ranking and the world economic forum competitiveness ranking. 

He commended the 8th National Assembly for its efforts and commitment at ensuring that there are appropriate regulatory and legislative instruments to make the business environment in Nigeria conducive for investments to thrive.

Bukar said: "A friend of mine keeps saying that there is really no difference between running a business and running a country. If you don't have proper governance processes and in the case of a nation, legislative and regulatory framework in place, you still do not have sustainable outcome. 

"This is why our legislature has a critical role to play for exercising its powers to make, amend or repeal the necessary laws that will facilitate the development of small and medium enterprises. 

"Permit me to note that without the legislature giving priority to the Business Environment, the nation risks losing what little jobs are currently available as well as risks losing the opportunity of moving significantly on the doing business rankings or indeed the world economic forum competitiveness rankings as it is common knowledge that our poor performance is largely as a result of constraints in the business environment. 

"I am however pleased to note with confidence that the 8th National Assembly has demonstrated its commitment to making the business environment right in Nigeria," he said.

The NESG boss said the formal presentation of the Business Environment Legislative Review Report to the National Assembly marked a significant milestone in the history of the nation's democracy "with regards to interaction of the legislative arm of government whose premise the Nigerian public is yet to fully understand and harness since the advent of democracy."

While acknowledging the "visionary leadership of the 8th Assembly" and its dedication to public engagement with the citizenry and public sector targeted at making Nigeria a modern and globally competitive nation, Bukar said: "The report is an embodiment of the canvassed shift for government to be proactive and strategic with regards to creating a conducive environment for businesses to thrive sustainably. 

"The imperative for this being that over 37 million micro and medium enterprises exist in Nigeria and contributing approximately 50 per cent of GDP in nominal terms and account for 84 per cent of all jobs.

"It is therefore imperative that the business environment is urgently addressed in order to mitigate negative impacts associated with current economic downturn as well as for the repositioning of Nigeria within the global economy," he said.

He said he was also pleased that the leadership of the National Assembly is already considering a business environment roundtable with the private sector where the findings and recommendations of the report are "expected to form the agenda of the round table with the aim of developing the right tools and instruments to accelerate business and investment across various segments of the Nigerian economy." 
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