*Panel to fashion legislative agenda

The Senate will reappraise its budget in line with economic realities, Senate President Bukola Saraki said yesterday. He said an ad-hoc committee would be set up to reappraise the structure of the National Assembly budget.

Saraki spoke yesterday in response to the criticism of the N120 billion 2015 budget of the Senate, which is considered too high at a time the economy is down. Saraki, in his welcome address to senators, noted that the committee would also work to make the National Assembly budget more open.

He said there was no doubt that with the falling oil price in the international market and the attendant reduction in revenues, the fiscal stress was already beginning to affect the country's economy, with some states becoming hard pressed to pay even salaries of worker. Saraki also lamented that the implementation of capital projects under the budget had become very challenging

The Senate President referred to what he described as false and malicious report about jumbo wardrobe allowance and noted that as reckless as the report maybe, it emphasises the need for the National Assembly to run a more transparent system to avoid the attendant misinformation.

The Senate will constitute another 18-man ad-hoc committee to formulate a legislative agenda for the Eighth Senate.

The committee, which will be made up of three senators from each geopolitical zone, is expected to submit its report within a week. He did not immediately name members of the committee.

Saraki said: "It is my hope that the recess afforded some of us time to rest from the dizzying activities of elections and inauguration such that we could feel the pulse of the nation again and be ready to get unto the business of making laws for the peace, order and good government of Nigeria.

"As I had noted in my inaugural address, the task before us is enormous, but very clear. Nigerians voted for change. They demand that we deliver to them tangible change

"They expect that we improve the quality of governance. Three issues agitate their mind today; the falling government revenues and the current fiscal crisis in many of our states, the unsustainable cost of governance in the country and the rising cost of doing business in Nigeria.

"These concerns have also agitated our minds individually and collectively and we must provide answers because it can no longer be business as usual. "It is clear that it is at times like these that nations either buckle up, face the realities of their predicaments, and forge ahead to ensure a brighter future for the next generation, or turn a blind eye to the extravagant facts that are staring us in the face.

"As it stands, given the trust that Nigerians have placed on us, legislators of the eighth National Assembly, to leave a historic impact on the affairs of our nation, we must choose to show that we are made for this moment, to leave a historic impact.

"Without doing so, we will not have the moral authority to question Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that carry on with little regards for the public good."