The Senate, has inaugurated its standing committee on Legislative Compliance, aimed at enforcing its resolutions in the Senate, as well as all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
The committee, chaired by Sen. Musa Maidoki (Kebbi-South), was inaugurated by the Leader of the Senate and chairman, Southern Senators’ Forum, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele.
Speaking during the inaugural meeting Tuesday, Bamidele noted that part of the mandate of the committee was to oversight other standing committees as well as all MDAs of the federal government.
He observed that the mandate given to the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Musa Maidoki “can obviously make the committee huge and of national significance considering the impelling need to ensure implicit compliance with all resolutions of the Senate on all its standing committees and MDAs.
“You have the mandate of the Senate to invite any individual, senator, MDA with a view to ensuring compliance with all our resolutions. By implication, the Committee on Legislative Compliance is the police of the Senate.
“It is therefore the responsibility of the Committee to duly follow up and ensure compliance with all our resolutions. You need to draw a comprehensive agenda to work with and ensure the functionality of the committee.
“The committee can be as big as the Chairman of the Committee wants it to be. It can also be as strong as the Chairman of the Committee wants it to be,” the Senate Leader observed.
Bamidele explained that the challenge of the country was not to make legislations, but ensure outright compliance with laws passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
He explained that the committee “is not meant to be anybody’s friend, neither is it constituted to be an enemy to anybody, but to ensure that the resolutions of the Senate are complied with.”
Also, Maidoki, the Chairman of the Committee, assured the leadership of the Senate of complying with the directive on the mandate.
