President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawan, on Monday said the 9th Senate would be guided by national interest in discharging its responsibilities.
Lawan gave the assurance when he played host to chairmen of state chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja.
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Isa Mohammed quoted him as saying: “This Senate will subsume any individual interest for our collective interest.”
Lawan added the senate would focus on issues capable of enhancing better security environment, better power supply and an economy that will provide job opportunities for the youths.
“These are things that will continue to unite us. It is when we are able to tackle those issues in the collective interest of Nigeria particularly, that we are able to enjoy the privileges that we have,” he said.
“We will ensure we work seamlessly with President Muhammadu Buhari and the party.
“We have been elected to represent the Nigerian people. Mr. President was overwhelmingly elected.
“We will have no difficulty in working with Mr. President,” he said.
He called for a dispute resolution mechanism in the APC to amicably resolve any issue of conflict within the party.
“From my experience in 2019 elections or the process leading to the elections, we need to have a better dispute resolution mechanism,” he said.
Lawan said the APC needed such dispute resolution mechanism since the party could not afford to have any of its chapters in disarray.
He, however, advised the party to be disposed to ensuring that all its chapters are able to contribute to national development.
“So, I will advocate for a dispute resolution mechanism that will ensure that our party is able to deal with issues as they emerge.
“Of course, naturally, we may have disagreement from time to time but what is important and crucial will be how we are able to tackle the disagreement and come back to agree and move forward,” Lawan said.
He expressed gratitude to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators for their overwhelming support so far.
He also reiterated his commitment to lead a bipartisan legislature in the interest of Nigerians.
“We are happy we have the support of our colleagues from the opposition parties.
“They have demonstrated their commitment to work with us.
“We too have also resolved to work with them in the interest of our country and for Mr. President and our party to succeed in taking us to the next level.”
Earlier in his remarks, Alhaji Ali Dalori, the chairman of the forum, who is also the Borno APC chairman, advised the APC senators to ensure smooth working relationship with the executive.
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