Nigeria will survive, despite oil revenue shortfall – Lawan

President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, has assured Nigerians that the country would its current economic challenges as a result of dwindling revenue from crude oil sale.

Lawan gave the assurance in a speech he delivered on Tuesday to welcome lawmakers back from a five-week recess declared by the legislature to contain the spread of the novel COVID-19 disease.

According to him, the decision of the upper chamber to reconvene from recess is “to enable us (Senate) to sustain work on solutions and to ensure that the health crisis does not create further problems that might be much more difficult to deal with.”

The lawmaker expressed concern that the pandemic had affected this year’s budget not just because of falling oil prices, but also because it had stalled economic activities, leading to an enormous loss of revenue.

According to him, the National Assembly has a series of engagement with the executive arm of government on areas of adjustments for a more realistic implementation of the 2020 budget.

“We are confident that we shall soon overcome this crisis, like previous health emergencies. All hands will, however, have to be on deck to register a quicker and more resounding success,” Lawan assured.