A strong contender for the office of the Senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki, on Friday said the Seventh Senate failed to live up to the task on setting national agenda.
The former governor of Kwara State, in a statement issued to mark the end of the Seventh Senate, said the National Assembly allowed itself to be enmeshed in fights and political wars that only served selfish purposes and party politics with little general public good.
He said: “We have to tell ourselves the home truth, we have missed the cut on the level of our effectiveness, especially so with regards to amending laws that impact on the revenues and expenditures of the state, budget reforms, infrastructure financing and deployment, accountability instruments and agency laws.
“The Senate, also, has not carried its integrity far enough to secure its independence which may have emboldened the police on the 20th of November 2014 to invade the precincts of the Assembly, desecrating it in a manner never seen before within the precincts of the Assembly.
“The Seventh National Assembly allowed itself to be enmeshed in fights and political wars that only served selfish purposes and party politics with little general public good.”
Saraki expressed dissatisfaction with the passage of 46 bills within 10 minutes, saying it was improper.
He said: “The new Senate must now learn and show that it has the vigour and drive to work harder through enriched deliberations to pass important bills that form the core of its agenda rather than be seen as a last minute assembly where important bills are rolled through the process in 10 minutes.
“My view is that it was important that we pass those laws but I have my reservation on the railroading of over 46 bills in 10 minutes. History will not be too kind to us on this count.
“This is made even a little steeper by the commentary that must follow that after another four years, the National Assembly was not able to pass such water shed bills like the PIB, the Federal Competition Bill and the NOSDRA Bill amongst many other bills that have the regulatory potential of changing the way our economy operates.”
Saraki said the Seventh Senate had done well in a number of areas, but noted that the last Assembly could have done better.
Saraki faulted the poor handling of the ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise by the leadership of the Seventh Senate.
He noted with great concern that the Senate did not act on the report of the probe it instituted on the unfortunate incident, during which many young Nigerians lost their lives.