The Senate has inaugurated its Standing Committee on Legislative Compliance.
This, it said was aimed at enforcing its resolutions on all its standing committees as well as all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Federal Government.
The committee, chaired by Sen. Musa Maidoki (PDP-Kebbi), was inaugurated by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele on Tuesday.
Bamidele said that part of the mandate of the committee is to oversight other standing committees as well as all MDAs of the Federal Government.
He said that the mandate given to Maidoki “can obviously make the committee big if he likes. He can as well make the committee strong if he likes.
“The mandate given to the committee is indeed 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, ministry, department or agency 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 on Legislative Compliance 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”.
Bamidele further said that the challenge of the country is not to make legislations but ensure outright compliance with laws passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
The senate leader said that the Committee on Legislative Compliance “has mandate of the committee to invite any senator who refused to comply with all the rules of the Senate.”
Bamidele said that the Committee on Legislative Compliance “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.”
On his part, chairman of the committee assured the leadership of the senate of complying with the directive of the upper chamber on the mandate given to them.(NAN)
