President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate on the submission of the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for consideration.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, read President Buhari’s letter
during Tuesday’s plenary at the National
Assembly in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
After weeks of vacation, the lawmakers
resumed plenary at a makeshift chamber as the main Senate chamber is undergoing
renovations.
The letter from the President also
contained four other requests, including approval for the establishment of a promissory note
programme in the sum of N375 billion.
According to President Buhari, this is to
settle outstanding claims to various exporters from 2007 to 2020 in respect of
the export expansion ground scheme.
He also requested the lawmakers to confirm
the appointment of Mr Mohammad Sabo as the Executive Commissioner (Finance and
Account) for the Board of Petroleum Upstream.
Similarly, the President sought approval
for the issuance of a promissory note of N6.2 billion for Kebbi and Taraba
states, for the construction and rehabilitation of federal roads.
He asked the Senate to approve the issuance
of another promissory note of N18.6 billion to Yobe State for the construction
of federal roads.
After the Senate President was done reading the letter, the
Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, submitted a petition on behalf of one
Augustine Ogedengbe, over the non-payment of presidential amnesty programme
allowances and the removal of slots
allocated to his constituent’s camp way back in 2010.
The petition was laid and referred to the
Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition, to report back within four weeks.
Senator Ayo Akinyelure also submitted four petitions from the Office of
the President of the Senate, including that of Dr Emmanuel Attah and four
others on behalf of the Federal Commissioners of the Code of Conduct Bureau
(CCB) against the CCB Chairman, Mohammed Isa, over alleged ”mal-administration,
non-functionality, corruption, and collapse of law and order” in the bureau.
Another petition was from a lawyer, Chukwuemeka Onwuemmene, on
behalf of one Lieutenant Michael Umakor against the Chief of Naval Staff,
requesting the release of Umakor who was said to have been in detention since
July 31, 2021, after serving a jail term.
The third petition was from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
Yunus Usman, on behalf of one Commodore Uche also against the naval chief,
seeking the “reconstruction of erroneous retirement from service and decoration
of his new rank of rear admiral”.
The last petition by Senator Akinyelure was
from another lawyer, K. Peter on behalf of Omire and Associates against Shell Petroleum Development
Company (SPDC), demanding redress of “the gross injustice meted on our client
and service company [Omire and
Associate] in respect of contracts REF: NGO1001316(A28) and NGO1003128(A28)”.
The petitions were also laid and referred
to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions to report back
within four weeks.