Party Primaries: Senate Adjourns Plenary Till June 7

The Senate yesterday adjourned plenary till June 7, 2022, to enable lawmakers to participate in the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State Houses of Assembly primaries.

The motion for adjournment was moved by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and seconded by the Deputy Minority Leader, Shuaibu Lau (Taraba North).

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Elections released on 26th February, 2022, had directed political parties to conduct their primaries for the nomination of candidates from April 4 to June 3, 2022.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, before the close of plenary yesterday, explained that the decision to adjourn plenary was to enable lawmakers participate fully in activities and processes leading to the conduct of party primaries for the various elective positions ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He said, “Processing of forms for House of Representatives and Senate has started and we are expected to submit our completed forms tomorrow (Friday).

“We have some of our colleagues here who are going for governorship seats of their states.

“It is very important that we participate in the process that affects us directly, as well as those that do not affect us directly - that is the State Houses of Assembly, Governorship and Presidential.

“Consequently, we have to adjourn to enable us participate fully in all these activities because we are supposed to be active participants. So, I wish all of us the best of luck.

“For the presidential candidates, we are four and we pray that one of us will emerge as the candidate of the ruling party.”

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the Customs and Excise Management Act 2004.

The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariffs.

Chairman of the Committee,

Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North), in his presentation, said the bill amongst others, seeks to assist the Nigeria Customs Service administration in driving economic growth and trade facilitation.

He added that bill when signed into law would make the NCS a legal entity under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning with a Board to serve Nigerians and facilitate international trade.

According to him, the bill which has 283 clauses, also seeks to bring the Customs and Excise Management Act in line with modern day Customs operation globally; and provide for the NCS a consolidated single legal reference document instead of multiple enactments.

The lawmaker noted that the proposed legislation also makes provision for the use of electronic documents, electronic payments and other information technology that are applicable to modern Customs Administration.

The bill after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole was passed by the chamber.