Read the Full Text Of Speech By David Mark @ The Valedictory Session Of The 7th Senate Assembly

“I take full responsibility for all the commissions and omissions in the past four years. The last four years have been defining for our country in many respects,” he said. “The country was battered on all sides by security challenges that threatened the very existence of our society. The rise in insurgency and the ruthless mayhem unleashed on Nigerians by the Boko Haram sect resulted in the highest number of lives and property, which our nation has lost in our recent history. What was most horrifying was not only their wanton destruction but their disregard for human lives particularly those of women and children. The abduction of the Chibok school girls still remains a scar on our national psyche. There is no doubt that the Boko Haram crisis exposed serious cracks in our security system, challenged our unity, threatened our future and seriously dented our international image. We considered and approved emergency rule when we thought it was needed and declined request for extension when we thought that such an extension could not stem the tide of terrorism and insurgency in the affected states. Happily, the Nigerian armed forces have made significant gains in the fight against insurgency. The security challenges we faced in the last four years were not restricted to terrorism but included political violence, extremism, communal conflicts, militancy in the Niger Delta, maritime insecurity and transnational crimes. In all these, we gave maximum support to the government. We passed the bill for an act to amend the Terrorism (prevention) Act 2012, and we approved a loan of U.S.$1 billion for the government to procure arms and equipment needed to tackle security challenges in the country."