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| Senate President |
The Present Senate President, David Mark has said Nigeria will not disintegrate after the February 14 Presidential elections.
Vanguard reports that the senate president gave the assurance while welcoming his colleagues back from the Yuletide break as the Senate resumed on Tuesday.
We have a role to play in ensuring that Nigeria witnesses a peaceful general election. Despite the much vaunted fear, apprehension and anxiety that our nation may not survive the elections by some dooms- day prophets, I personally remain optimistic that we have the strength of character, the political will, the perseverance and maturity to rise above all the challenges that lie ahead. We are all leaders and I know that we will work towards peace and harmony. Our nation will not disintegrate after the elections,” he said.
Mark, who said ‘blasts are non-partisan in their destructive nature,’ urged Nigerians to stop the blame game and support the Armed Forces to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North Eastern part of the country as well as rescue the Chibok girls.
He said every Nigerian irrespective of tribe, religion or political divide must support security agencies in their task of defeating Boko Haram for the nation to progress, and specifically asked both the Federal Government and the Armed Forces to increase efforts to rescue the Chibok girls abducted from their school in Borno State, ten months ago.
“Government must do all it can to end this insurgency. This is a war that we must win and we will win. The tendency is to blame government for this sore state of affairs. Every Nigerian, irrespective of partisanship, must demonstrate patriotism to our country. We must support our Armed Forces and other security operatives to stop this evil. Insecurity plagues all of us and must be tackled holistically,” he said.
Mark, who further condemned the activities of insurgents and terrorists in the country which has led to untimely death of several innocent and productive Nigerians, reiterated that the North Eastern part of nation was under siege.
He said members of the Armed Forces and other security agencies had paid supreme sacrifice to free the nation from the claws of insurgents and described the victims as heroes and heroines whose deaths must not be in vain.
“We pray that the souls of the deceased rest in peace. They are our heroes and heroines and their deaths must not be in vain. We must not dishonour their memory by politicising the security challenges in the North-East,” he said.
Mark commended the National Assembly for its active roles in the fight against extremists and other relevant committees that had engaged various stakeholders, especially the Armed Forces and other security agencies who risked their lives daily to protect our liberty, freedom and security.
The senate president expressed hope for the early passage of 2015 budget dimmed with the Senate failing to get the reports on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, which the budget was predicated on.
He said the two documents were supposed to, among other issues; recommend a realistic crude oil benchmark to be adopted for the 2015 Appropriation Bill.
Meanwhile, Senator Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi, Chairman, Senate Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation explained that his committee was yet to receive the revised MTEF and FSP hence, no report was ready for consideration.
It would be recalled that the senate president recently charged the Nigerian Armed Forces to do everything within their might to overcome the insecurity challenge posed by the Boko Haram and keep Nigeria united at all times.
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