Reforms ‘re working – Akpabio

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has commended President Bola Tinubu’s administration reforms, saying they are yielding good result.

The Senate President led a high-level delegation from the National Assembly, featuring Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, that visited President Bola Tinubu in his Lagos home on Friday to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary,.

He declared full legislative partnership with the administration and insisting that insecurity is abating despite “pockets of discontent.”

Speaking to journalists after the visit, Akpabio, who chairs the National Assembly, said the delegation came “to pay a visit to Nigeria through the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”

“We are happy with the fact that Nigeria has met 66 years. So we came to pay a visit to Nigeria through the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” Akpabio said.

“We believe he’s doing well. These reforms are working and, as far as we are concerned, insecurities are abating and people are able to sleep well,” he added.

The Senate President acknowledged lingering challenges but attributed some to the proximity of elections.

“We still have pockets of discontent here and there because of the fact that this is almost election time. A lot of mischief and all that. But at the end, our prayer always is that Nigeria shall be better, and God will help him to make Nigeria, beyond 66 years, a better country,” Akpabio said.

He framed Nigeria’s continued unity as evidence of divine favour and national resilience.

“That we are still together shows the resilience of this country. That Nigeria is still one. It shows the resilience of this country. It shows the love that God has for Nigeria,” he said.

“We are a praying nation. Whether you are a Muslim or you are a Christian, we are a praying nation. And God can never forsake us. And God will never forsake the President,” Akpabio stated.

On the administration’s performance, he said: “So the administration is doing its best, considering the situation we took when we came about. And we are prepared and determined to make the country better.”

Akpabio pledged continued legislative support for President Tinubu’s agenda.

“On the part of the National Assembly, we want to continue to remain worthy partners to the administration of President Bola Tinubu. And we believe that what we are doing is in the interest of all Nigerians,” he said.

He cited the reversal to the old national anthem as a symbol of unity.

“Even from when we changed the national anthem to what it is today, and what it was then at independence, it’s a clear reflection of the love we have for Nigeria: that though tongues and tribes may differ, in brotherhood we stand,” Akpabio said.

“Nigerians must learn to be their brother’s keepers once more, and love must return to Nigeria. And progress is already on the trajectory. Things are changing,” he added.

Responding to a question on how the National Assembly is partnering with the executive to reduce the cost of living, Akpabio pointed to recent overhauls of colonial-era laws, particularly in taxation.

“You’ve seen already, in three years, we have been able to tinker with all the anachronistic and old laws that we met on the ground. You know very well that things like stamp duties were laws that were in 1939.

“And some of the laws were incorporated in 1901. And the laws of 1959 were incorporated into the Nigerian Constitution, the current one we are having. And many of them have not been changed,” he said.

“Stamp duties, so many others. So you’ve seen the reform in the tax system. Let me use the word economic system, with four major tax laws brought into the country at one time. Very voluminous, all of them. And then, because we’re able to digest them, we’re able to do what we ought to do,” Akpabio stated.

He said the laws were passed quickly and with broad support.

“And we’re able to pass them in record time with the whole country in agreement. At the beginning, people were very sceptical and said, ‘What are they trying to do? Are they trying to make a law for one section or the other?’ We say we are all for all Nigeria. It’s a people’s parliament and we are doing that,” he said.

Akpabio urged Nigerians to judge the government by results.

“You’ve seen the speed with which we pass legislations that benefit Nigeria. You’ve seen the speed that we clear people who are coming to add value to the current administration.

“You’ve seen the partnership in terms of laws that definitely will change the paradigm of the Nigerian trajectory,” he said.

“And so we will continue to do that. That’s our own contribution. We are elected for that and we partner with an administration which we believe is focused and which is determined to change the fortunes of Nigeria,” Akpabio added.

“Don’t forget, it’s easy to say with the mouth, but difficult to do. But in our own case, we are matching words with action. And so the government is going forward,” he concluded.

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