The Chairman, Senate Committee on
Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, said on Tuesday that the Senate had no
intention to reconvene earlier than February 17 in spite of the rescheduling of
the general election.
He told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the Senate would take advantage of the postponement
of the elections to consider the 2015 Appropriation Bill in addition to others.
“We are going to use the
advantage of this postponement and take on those bills which we ought to have
taken immediately after the election,’’ he said.
The lawmaker also urged the
Federal Government, INEC and other major stakeholders to build the confidence
of Nigerians and the international community in the country’s electoral
process.
“The Federal Government, INEC and
every person concerned with the conduct of the elections should build the
confidence of Nigerians in all they are doing.
“They should do
confidence-building in Nigerians and the international community because the
economy of Nigeria is fragile now. And if we have a fragile political
situation, it could be worse for the economy; it could be worse for the
currency.”
NAN recalled that Senate
adjourned sitting on January 14 to resume on February 17 after the general
election, now rescheduled for March 28 and April 11 for presidential and
governorship elections, respectively.
The INEC Chairman, Professor
Attahiru Jega, on Saturday, announced the shift of the election dates by six
weeks to enable the security agencies to provide adequate protection for the
more than 700,000 staff during the exercise.
The Presidential and National
Assembly elections had been fixed for February 14, while governorship and House
of Assembly polls were slated for February 28.
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