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N.Assembly resumes tomorrow
NDIDI OKAFOR and COSMAS EKPUNOBI,
Abuja
AFTER a lengthy
recess, the National Assembly tomorrow bubbles back to life as lawmakers resume
work to kick off fresh legislative term.
Senate will give accelerated hearing to
the Power Sector Reform Bill presented to it by President Olusegun Obasanjo
while the House of Representatives has slated three bills and the possible
dissolution of the chamber’s 68 committees as priority areas.
The bills are the controversial Trade
Unions Law (Amendment) Bill, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
Amendment Act and the Armed Forces Service Commission Bill.
Senate President, Adolphus Wabara and the
Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Umaru Tsauri, respectively
spoke on the importance of the Power Sector Reform Bill and assured that it will
receive accelerated deliberation when the chamber resumes.
The bill which is sponsored in the Senate
by the Majority Leader, Dalhatu Tafida, is seeking to inject efficiency into the
National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) through commercialisation and tariff
increase. The bill has already gone through second reading with Tafida
introducing for debate, its general principles.
But in a recent interview, the Senate
President, said the bill is on the priority list of the Senate even as Senator
Tsauri agreed and said "it is one of the bills that will impact positively on
the economic life of the people".
Meanwhile, Senate sources told Daily
Champion that a group of youths from Benue State may storm the chamber, upon
resumption, to protest the report of its ad-hoc committee on the Kwande crisis.
Senate had empowered the Committees on
States and Local Governments, Security and Intelligence to investigate and
report back to it on the crisis in Kwande local government area of Benue State.
In a detailed report to it before it went
on recess, by Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, some prominent leaders in the state were
fingered in the crisis but debate was adjourned till resumption.
But it was learnt that some of the leaders
implicated and some lawmakers in the state are not happy with the Anisulowo
report and "may come to the Senate with some youths from the state to protest
and ask the Senate to disregard it".
In the House of Representatives, the
lawmakers are to take a position on the NDDC Amendment Act presented by
President Obasanjo since July last year.
The document is asking member-states of
the commission to begin payment of 10 per cent of their funds to the NDDC, while
previously they made no contributions.
Oil firms are to pay two per cent, a slash
from their present three per cent while the Federal Government’s share was
similarly slashed from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.
Another tricky bill is the Armed Forces
Service Commission to which the military is strongly opposed.
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