The President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday
pledged to work with the incoming 8th
National Assembly as development partners
to tackle corruption and reduce the cost of running government.
Buhari stated this while addressing a joint session
of the re-elected and fresh members of the two chambers of the National
Assembly, who were currently undergoing a one-week induction programme
organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies in Abuja.
The President-elect specifically urged the elected
federal lawmakers to collaborate with him on the budget process and in the
restructuring of the public sector in order to guarantee transparency in the
polity.
Buhari noted that the cooperation between him and
the legislators would enable both arms of government to collectively tackle the
menace of high recurrent expenditure at the expense of capital and human
development.
He lamented that high cost of governance had
greatly affected execution of capital projects, human development, and had
eroded public social services such as infrastructure, health and education.
“High cost of governance has been crowding out
capital and human development,” Buhari observed.
The President-elect, who also observed that there
was dearth of development in the agricultural and solid mineral sectors,
equally urged the lawmakers to ensure legislations that would pave the way for
favourable policies in the sectors.
“Distinguished members of the 8th National
Assembly, I see these development challenges as the mission of my presidency. I
need the support of the members of the National Assembly on the battlefront. I
need your support in many respects,” Buhari urged.
He urged the federal parliamentarians to take
seriously, their oversight functions, which according to him, was critical in
ensuring that policies were implemented effectively and transparently.
He added, “My mission to bring integrity into
governance would better succeed if complemented with a strong culture of
transparent oversight.”
Buhari also stressed the need to contain insecurity
in the country, urging the lawmakers to join hands with him in rooting out the
challenges of insecurity in the country.
He identified lack of stable power supply as one of
the strongest forces discouraging investments in the country, which according
to him had in turn put a limit on job creation.
Buhari said, “I am here today to invite you to work
with the executive as partners in progress, as champions of good governance and
development and as warriors for change. Together, we can make this nation great
and as a role model in Africa and other emerging economies and democracies.
“The legislature is a critical component and necessary
ingredient of democracy and good governance.
“The legislature, by nature, is inherently
democratic in the sense that all members are equal and are elected
representatives of the Nigerian people. As President-elect, I recognise this
fact and believe that legislators carry this heavy burden of representation
with all the seriousness it deserves.
“For a President to be successful in addressing
community development and the general welfare of the various people of the
country, he or she would benefit from working closely and in harmony with the
legislative arm of government.
“I therefore commit myself to working with the
legislature as development partners motivated by the desire to deliver good
governance.”
Buhari also said there was need for the executive
and the legislative arms, working in unity, “to deploy efforts in conflict
resolution and peace building in all our communities.”
The President-elect also expressed concern over the
general insecurity in the North-East and the environmental degradation in the
Niger Delta, saying the situations needed serious attention.
He lamented the fall in oil price which had dipped
the country’s revenue generation capacity, saying the incoming administration
would be faced with the challenge of how to deliver on reconstruction of
devastated areas and its new development agenda.
Buhari pledged that his administration would tackle
the endemic corruption which had crippled human and infrastructure development
for decades, and the unacceptably poor provision of power supply to save small
businesses and the economy in general.
He said, “De-industrialisation for the past three
decades had led to closure of many industries; migration into many to other
African countries and unacceptably high levels of unemployment with the youth
unemployment reaching over 40 per cent.”
Buhari takes the first move to fight corruption , as he seeks support of National Assembly
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Thursday, April 30, 2015
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