By Abdulateeef Bamgbose
Records on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly , obtained from Rules and Business office, indicated that the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, tops chart with 21 bills within the last 18 months.
One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau was the North West Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission, NWDC, after assented to by President Bola Tinubu.
Amazed by Barau’s feat on private member bills sponsorship despite being a presiding officer , journalists covering the Senate honoured him with award on highest number of private member Bills sponsorship on last Friday.
Barau, in his response to the honour, said it would make him to do more for his constituents in Kano North Senatorial District and Nigerians generally .
“Your recognition of my legislative inputs in the Senate within the last 18 months, particularly on series of development – driven bills sponsored so far , is something that will energize and propel me further to do more.
“Once you are given an award, it’s a kind of telling you to go and do more. To whom much is given, much is expected.
” This to me also is considered as your contribution to making sure that the legislature remains vibrant.
“Once you identify those who are doing well and you honour them through awards of this nature, that will create some kind of competition and will propel others to do more so that they can be recognized at some other time in the future.
” We cannot perform here in the best manner possible, without your contribution to what we are doing. And you are contributing in a very robust way to what we do here, making us as partners in progress for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians.
“So our relationship with you is sine qua non to our success. We can never succeed without you because without you reporting what happens here , Nigerians can’t know what we are doing”, he said .
Earlier, Chairman of the corps, Mr James Itodo , told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other thing.
