DSP Barau Tops List of Senators With Private Member Bills

… Recognised by Parliament Reporters

By: Anayo Akwitti

Statistics on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly, obtained from Rules and Business office, shows that the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, tops with 21 bills within the last 18 months .

One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau, was the NorthWest Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission (NWDC) after assent, by President Bola Tinubu .

In recognition to this great feat Journalists covering the Senate on Friday December 20, 2024 decided to honour him with an award of highest number of private member Bills sponsorship.
Responding to the honour, Barau expressed joy, stating that the gesture would spur 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 can’t 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 , the Chairman of the corps , James Itodo , told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other reason .