"Under my watch, the Senate will never cover corruption except if the information didn't come to us"he said
According
to a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Mohammed
Isa, Saraki said the Senate is ever ready to partner with President
Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the success of the anti-corruption war. The
Senate, he said had already demonstrated such commitment through its
interventions on many alleged corrupt transactions such as its swift
investigation and adoption of a report on the management of the Treasury
Single Account (TSA) that saved the nation about N7billion and the
exposure of the inconsistencies in the 2016 budget.
The
step, he said was a departure from the past where such reports were
either watered-down or not presented for debate and adoption. He cited
the report he presented to the last Senate on the over N1trillion fuel
subsidy scam that never saw the light of the day.
In
furtherance to the commitment, the Senate President said Nigerians
would in the next few weeks be availed with the details of the National
Assembly budget which will be a departure from the tradition of having
one line item budget.
"For
the first time we promised Nigerians to give out our budget breakdown.
The committee will make its report available by next week. We are
resolved to break the tradition of one line item," he said.
Saraki
said though party differences exist between the senators, citing
example of the leadership tussle, he, however said, national interest
and the desire of each senator to fulfil the promises made to Nigerians
have become the guiding principle of the senate in their team work.
On
the economy, he said the Senate has embarked on series of legislative
interventions to create conducive environment for the private sector, as
he said, "it is only when the private sector thrives that the issue of
unemployment will be addressed and the nation's GDP will increase."
"Few
days ago, we received a report on the laws that need to be amended in
order of priority importance to ease doing business and overall private
sector participation in the stimulation of Nigeria's economy. We will
soon commence the implementation of the recommendations in the report in
addition to pushing for the amendment of the Procurement Act to
stimulate and protect our local industries," he assured.
He
blamed lack of firmness and consistency in policy implementation by the
past administrations as the main obstacle for the growth of the private
sector.
"If
people have confidence that these policies have come to stay, nothing
will stop them from coming to invest in the country," he stressed.
He
allayed the fears that the low prices of oil will have negative impact
on the implementation of the 2016 budget, saying that, "what we need to
do is to block leakages and show more transparency."
"If
we can block leakages, stop the wastages and institute a culture of
transparency in governance, the revenue in-flow will not be
substantially affected. Without these, even if oil is sold at more than a
$100 per barrel, we will continue to witness a decline in revenue
in-flow as we witnessed in the past," Saraki said.
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