Lawan, govs., senators bag awards

President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, on Monday, bagged two awards; the Parliamentary Leadership for Good Governance and Budget cycle restoration.

The awards presentation and dinner was organised by the Press Corps of the Senate in Abuja on Monday.

Other senators also bagged awards with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Sen. Ajibola Basiru, conferred with the Parliamentary Image Defender award.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Jibrin Barau, won the Budget Cycle Restoration Facilitator award while Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele bagged the Legislative Activism award.

The category of award for the governors was tagged “Ambassadors of the Senate Award.” The recipients were Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa.

In his remarks, Lawan listed the achievements so far recorded by the 9th Senate to include 100 per cent implementation of the 2020 budget.

He said the feat was made possible by the efforts of the 9th National Assembly that resulted in the normalisation of the budget cycle to fit into the January to December calendar year.

He announced that the Senate would from 2022, institute awards for parliamentary reporting and also parliamentary reporting course for journalists at the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

Lawan said: “While good governance is a work in progress, it requires a painstaking feedback process, to appreciate loopholes and for efforts towards blocking them.

“These loopholes can be evident through the need to carry our outstanding responsibilities, in fulfilling our mandate of legislation, appropriation and oversight, and in ensuring they lead to improved welfare of the people.

“This government has long made a commitment to good governance by emphasising the values of accountability and transparency to minimise or eliminate waste.”

Diri who spoke on behalf of the governors appreciated the organisers and said he remained committed to the tenets of democracy.