By Raphael Ekpang
As the 9th Assembly winds up on Monday, the former minority leader of the Senate, Senator Enyinnanya Abaribe has said that members of the 9th Senate could have achieve more if they had work for the nation’s interest.
But, the outgoing Senate appropriation committee chairman, Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano Central) who is also Senator -elect on the contrary said that the 9th Senate achievement was based on their resolute to work for the interest of the nation.This he said was the reason they jettison party lines and work as a body of nationalists..
Both Senators argued this on Saturday in Abuja during the valedictory session of the 9th Senate.
Abaribe has argued that if the senators have considered the interest of the nation first they could have achieved far better than what the did now.
However, Barau stated that the 9th Senate surpassed achievement of all other previous senates. According to him, the passage of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which the previous Senates could not, the electoral act among others showed that they were more of the interest of the nation than one could imagine.
The Abia North Senatorial District, Senator-elect Abaribe insisted that the Senate could have done better if it has put the interest of the nation first. Meanwhile, he admitted that the 9th Senate however, tried on some areas, but opined that they failed in the area of national interest, While advising the 10th Senate to consider the national interest first in all their dealings.
Senator Barau is the prefer candidate for the deputy Senate President in the 10th assembly and he has admitted that they are going to missed the contributions of most of the 9th assembly Senators whose ideas would have impacted in the growth of the nation.
On what the 10th Senate would focus on, Barau says the 10th Senate would focus on the economy, adding that if there is a robust economy, security challenges would be a thing of the past. Like wise education sector as well as others He noted that with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the saddle and couple with the new leadership of the 10th Senate Nigerians would indeed appreciate the mandate they gave to Tinubu and them.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done it before in Lagos while he was the executive governor and now he is the president of the entire country, I am optimistic he will do it again and even better,” Barau said.
