ABUJA – The Senate in its plenary on Wednesday has passed a bill an act to provide for the establishment of the Federal College of Education Giwa, Kaduna state and for other matters related thereof, 2019 has scaled second reading on the floor of the senate.

Others bills that scaled second reading include establishment of the federal university of Gusau, City University of Technology, Auchi, Federal College of Education, Usugbenu – Irrua and for other matters connected therewith 2019.

The Senators who sponsored these bills one after another took turns to highlight details captured in them to give room for considerations, stating that education is a veritable instrument for national development.

Other lawmakers who supported these bills say providing educational institutions in the north will contribute to national revenue increase, stabilize education and reduce insurgency.

The Senate President Ahmad Lawan after the voice vote referred the bills to the senate committee on tertiary education and tetfund for further legislative action.

Meanwhile, thee Senate has mandated its committee on petroleum resources upstream to conduct a comprehensive review of the relevant laws, product Sharing contracts, joint venture contracts and arrangements governing abandonment, decommissioning, remediation and investigate the degree of compliance with these laws by oil companies operating in Nigeria.

This has became necessary as a result of a motion on obligations in oil and gas exploration contracts raised during plenary by Senator representing Cross River south, Gershom Bassey.

According to him, the United Nations Convention on the law of the seas article 60 (3), Geneva Convention Article 5 (5), the Oslo and Paris Convention for the protection of Marine environment, the 1967 Territorial Water Act and 1969 Petroleum Act all have provisions for mandatory abandonment and decommissioning for oil companies.

As contained in the motion, the Abandonment and Decommissioning costs are the costs associated with the physical removal and disposal of obsolete oil installations at the end of their operational life and the restoration of the environment to the state it was before exploitation.

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However, the motion seeks to investigate why oil companies in Nigeria do not utilize their approved budgetary allocations for the purpose of restoring exploited sites after the expiration of their lease.

In addressing the issue, the senate mandated its committees on petroleum resources upstream and that of compliance to investigate the degree of compliance with relevant laws by oil companies operating in Nigeria.

It should be noted also that If exploited sites are restored to their state before exploitation, the untold hardships faced by host communities will come to an end.

The Senate has also mandated the senate committee on ICT and Cybercrime to re-establish engagement with stakeholders with a view to galvanising a comprehensive and broad based approach to addressing Nigeria’s digital technology and cybersecurity crisis to safeguard the present and future of the country.

This due to the fact that the gains of digital technology are being dampened by rapid evolution of cybersecurity threats with increased attacks in both sophistication and severity.

The Senate noted that there is currently a dramatic rise in Cybercrime such as ransomware epidemic that is the refocusing of malware from personal computer and laptops to smartphone and other mobile devices.

It pointed out further that this nefarious activities is already costing the world huge losses in dollars Nigeria inclusive.

The Senate therefore urged the Federal government to deliberately take up measures to improve on budgetary allocation provision for and to give adequate attention to the development of digital technology and cyber-dependence safety.