By Sunny Anderson Osiebe...
Senate
President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has pledged that the Nigerians in
Diaspora Commission Bill currently before the National Assembly would be
given accelerated passage to enable Nigerians
living outside the country the opportunity to participate in events
within the country.
The Nigerians
In Diaspora Bill when passed would facilitate the establishment of the
Diaspora Bond for the in-flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into
Nigeria among other benefits.
The Senate
President spoke yesterday when he received a delegation of Nigerians in
the Diaspora led by its Worldwide Coordinator, Dr. Camillius Konkwo, at
the National Assembly.
According to a
statement by the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Print
Media, Chuks Okocha, Dr. Saraki assured that the Nigerians in Diaspora
Bill would be passed as soon as possible
saying , " though the Senate has suspended its plenary session to February
21 to
enable the quick passage of the 2017 budget, your April 2017 deadline
could be met as the Senate would pass the bill by March 2017.
He told the NIDO delegation that the bill has already passed it's first reading at the Senate.
"On the NIDO
bill, the National Assembly will partner with you as it is part of the
Made in Nigeria Campaign which is to patronise and prioritise the
purchase of Made in Nigeria goods by the Ministries,
Department and Agencies (MDAs).
"Government
agencies spend as much as N2.1 trillion annually and if the MDAs spend
up to 30 percent of their expenditures by patronising Made in Nigeria
goods, it will go a long way to stabilise
the economy and grow the Naira", Dr. Saraki said.
On their request
that the electoral act should be amended to enable Nigerians in the
Diaspora vote during elections, the Senate President told the delegation
that the Electoral Act is almost 95 percent
concluded, but said that since the amendment of the act is an on going
process that the National Assembly would still look into their request
to vote during elections.
Earlier, leader
of the delegation, Dr. Konkwo told the Senate President that official
statistics showed that Nigerians in the Diaspora contributes over $35
billion to the economy through remittances,
but unofficially that the remittances are three times more than the
official figure.
He appealed for
visa waivers for foreign investors coming through Nigerians living
outside the country, advocating that there should an official data of
Nigerians in the Diaspora by directing the
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) carry out a data
capturing of Nigerian outside the country.
He commended the
Senate President for his leadership intervention especially in
championing bills that would help grow the economy and exist Nigeria out
of the present economic recession.
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