Why ninth NASS stands above previous assemblies – Lawan

By Musa Baba Adamu

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has advanced reason to justify why the current National Assembly stands out from the previous assemblies, arguing that its uniqueness was its ability to conquer most complex and critical legislations that had either defied passage or assent.

A statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ola Awonoyi, said the Senate President said this on Saturday night in Lagos while responding to the honour bestowed on him as The Sun Political Icon of the Year 2021.

He said “I am sure the award has been given to me because I have been in the Legislature or in the National Assembly for more than two decades and that is to say that the Legislature has been recognised at this stage.

“I’m so pleased and delighted that the Sun Newspapers are able to sieve through and see what the other arm of government, the Legislature, is doing because more often than not, the Legislature does not receive the kind of attention that it deserves from the citizens.

“For us in the Ninth National Assembly, we believe that service to our fatherland, service to our people, service to different Senatorial Districts and Federal constituencies is paramount and there is nothing more than that.

“Thank God in less than three years, the Ninth National Assembly has done tremendously well in the area of important, critical and crucial legislations for national development.

“I have dedicated this award to previous presiding officers since Nigeria started as a democracy because whatever we have achieved in the Ninth National Assembly, there must have been some foundation set by others before we came on board.

“I therefore dedicate this award to the previous presiding officers of the Senate and presiding officers of the House of Representatives.

“Let me say that I have learnt a lot from one very outstanding presiding officer and his name is Senator David Mark who was Senate President for two terms – the sixth and the seventh Assemblies.

“And of course the 13th President of the Senate, my brother and my friend(Senator Bukola Saraki) who was here(for this occasion) before he left. I worked with him as a Senate Leader. He made contributions too like previous President of the Senate did.

“Therefore I cannot take credit for the Ninth National Assembly but the Ninth National Assembly stands out in one way. He stands out in the way of conquering the most difficult legislations that defied passage and where they were passed, defied assent.”