By joshua 
Amb. Abdullahi Ismaila Abdulkadir (Smile)
_(Advocate for Better Kogi State, 08061265674)_
Writes from Lokoja:
A Senator is a lawmaker in the one of the bicameral legislative system making law for the federal republic of Nigeria, that is to say that there are two chambers of the National Assembly.
Section 47 of the 1999Constitution provides that _”There shall be a National Assembly for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representative”_ by this the National Assembly is a constitutional representation of the people across the 36 States and the FCT.
Composition :
The upper chamber which is my focus for this epistle is comprised of 109 members, three each for the 36 States of the federation and one from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. A member of the upper chamber is thereafter referred to as a senator or lawmaker but mostly referred to as a senator in Nigeria.
Hence every state has three representative in the house of senate to drive home their hopes and aspiration on the floor the various functions of a Senate.
*Functions:*
1 _Law Making :-_ The foremost function of the senate or senator in this case is to make laws for the entire populace of Nigeria to enhance smooth and effective running of the government for the betterment of the people.
To make a law it passes through several stages:
a. 1st reading : At this initial state the law is proposed as a bill and introduced to the floor for consideration hereby looking at it important
b. 2nd Reading: At this stage the bill will be actually discussed and committed to the next state, here input and deliberations a made then it will pass to the next stage…
c. Committee Stage: A committee will be set up from among the member or referred to a standing committee as the case maybe then further discussed within and outside the senate then finally the last stage …
d. Third Reading: Here the bill will be agreed upon by the committee of the whole and passed into Law by a simple majority of members.
If it gains the favor of the entire house of a simple majority it will now be moved to the House of Representatives to be passed, if is so passed the bill will be presentation to the president for assent and this shall be made known within thirty days whether or not the president has assented or withhold his assent, if he assent the it becomes a law and if he decline the two house can veto the bill to become a law with two third majority.
*Note:*
Now ask yourself this simple question, how many bills have your senator proposed on the floor? If he has not then know that he just wasted your opportunity on the floor and if he seeks reappointment have a rethink .
*2. Correction of Defects in Laws:* section 88(2)(a) of 1999 constitution empowers the senate to correct any defect in respects of existing laws. This is called amendments and it is done as the arise, most resent is the electoral amendment, Company and Allied Matters Act.
*NOTE:*
What is the contribution of your senator in this regard? Is he sleeping while deliberations are on or not even found?
*3 Approval of Appointments*: It is one of the major constitutional duties of the chamber members, they approve all appointments as recommended by the president, NJC into other ministries and parastertals.
Note: that itbis the duty of your representative to ensure that federal character is strictly maintained hence if your people are not found or adequately represented know that you are having a sleeping senator.
*4. Fund Control:* Section 80(3) of the 1999 Constitution provides that ” _No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issues of the those moneys has been authirised by an act of National Assembly”._
Sub Section (4) further provides that _”No money shall be withdrawn from the consolidated revenue fund or any other public fund of the fedration, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly”._
Sec 81 state that _” the President shall also present the estimate of revenue expenditure for the next following year “_ which is usuly called Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly for confirmation and approval.
5. *Removal of the President or Vice Prwsident :* The Senate has the constitutions power to remove the president and vice president from office should they go against their constitutional boundaries as empowered by Sec. 143 of the Constitution, following various steps which we shall look at other epistles.
*6. Oversight Function :* The senate performes over sight function which is a topic for another day.
*7. Constitutional Allowance/Project :* It is rummoured that the senate is entitled to at least N 200m Constituency Project annually, this money is meant for carrying out of project that the committee is in dare need of, though this project most at times is shabilly done as most senators seize this opportunity to empower them selfs thereby carryingout project that will not last over their tenure… Continue reading