Buhari to senators-elect: avoid pitfalls of Eighth Senate

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) senators-elect got a piece of presidential advice Monday night. President Muhammadu Buhari cautioned them to avoid the pitfall of the outgoing Senate.

He spoke while hosting the in-coming members of the Red Chamber and some governors to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President regretted some wrong actions and decisions of the Eighth National Assembly.

He, specifically, recalled the deliberate and persistent delay in passing the annual budget.

Urging the in-coming Ninth National Assembly to be different, Buhari said doing things right would enable his administration achieve its target of transforming the nation.

He said: “This is my fifth and last time of standing for an election. For that reason, I’ll like to leave something behind. And what (legacy) 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.

“What I’m appealing for 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.’’

Promising to work and partner with them after their inauguration on June 8 in promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity, the President thanked the governors and the senators-elect for their support and understanding.

Speaking with State House reporters, APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said the event was to unite the new and old senators and to establish a new relationship between the executive and the legislature.

Oshiomhole said: “The system talks about the separation of powers between the executive and legislature and the two must handshake for things to happen.

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“And when you have a President who is determined to drive changes, fundamental changes that will affect our habits, our lifestyle, 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 a comfortable majority to drive that, what we have to do is to manage that majority.’’