Lawan disclosed this in an interview with  State House correspondents on Monday after a meeting with the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

He, however, said that if the “cleaning process” took more than a day to complete, then it would be represented to Buhari early next week.

He said, “By the grace of God, tomorrow both chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives, will pass the bill. And I hope that by the end of the week, the bill could be brought back to Mr President for his assent. I hope that but one thing I’m sure by the grace of God is we are passing the bill, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2010, tomorrow, Wednesday in both chambers, and we are happy that at the end of the day, we have been able to narrow down our differences and arrive at the very patriotic resolution that our country must have a new electoral law that will guide the 2023 general elections in the country, and Nigeria would have everything to benefit from this law. And for us in the 9th Assembly, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is one of the primary legislative agenda that we wanted to deal with in the 9th National Assembly, and to the glory of God Almighty Allah by tomorrow (Wednesday), we will be able to pass that bill for Mr President to consent to it. I hope that the cleaning process will not take more than a day. But if it does, then it has to be early next week. But I’m very optimistic that there is not much to clean up because normally when we pass a bill like this, it goes to the legislative drafting unit of the National Assembly.”

SERAP said hints on the missing fund is documented in three annual audited reports by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

The suit followed the publication of annual audited reports for 2015, 2017 and 2018 in which the Auditor-General of the Federation raised “concerns about alleged diversion and misappropriation of public funds, sought the recovery of any missing funds, and asked that the evidence of recovery should be forwarded to his office.”

In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/366/2021 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking, “an order of mandamus directing and compelling Dr Lawan, Mr Gbajabiamila and the National Assembly to perform their constitutional oversight functions to ensure the prompt and transparent investigation into the allegations that N4.4 billion budgeted for the National Assembly may be missing and unaccounted for.”

In the suit, SERAP argued that “By the combined reading of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended], the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the UN Convention against Corruption, which Nigeria has ratified, the National Assembly has legal duties to combat corruption, and promote transparency and accountability in the management of public resources. Transparency and accountability in the management of public resources and wealth are essential for promoting development, people’s welfare and well-being, and their access to basic public services, as well as good governance and the rule of law. The National Assembly has a legal responsibility to ensure that the serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement documented by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation are promptly, independently, thoroughly, and transparently investigated, and to end the culture of impunity that is fuelling these allegations. The failure of the National Assembly to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and to refer to appropriate anti-corruption agencies the allegations documented in the annual audited reports for 2015, 2017 and 2018 is a fundamental breach of the oversight and public interest duties imposed on the legislative body by sections 4, 88 and 89 of the Nigerian Constitution.”

The senate president described political leaders are problem solvers, adding that leaders in the country need to unite against criminality.

He also urged the leaders to resist the antics of divisive elements bent on instigating inter-ethnic tensions across the country. The lawmaker noted that “insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and militancy remain serious threats to a secured and safe Nigeria”.

Lawan made this known in a speech delivered on Tuesday during plenary to welcome lawmakers back from the Christmas/New Year recess, according to a statement on Tuesday.

The Senate president, while appealing to Nigerians for calm in view of the recent inter-tribal agitations and conflicts in some states in the South-West part of the country, described the development as “worrisome and one that requires the immediate intervention of political leaders”.

He said “Distinguished Colleagues, the very recent emergence of inter-ethnic and inter-tribal conflicts in some parts of our country is worrisome. The Senate calls for calm. The situation also calls for leadership at all levels of government. Leaders must unite to fight and defeat criminality in the Country. Leaders must also unite to fight any divisive and centrifugal sentiments, and tendencies Political leaders are problem solvers. As parliamentarians, we should search for possible legislation to address the issues that tend to create tensions amongst our people. We are going to consult and partner with all arms and tiers of governments, in our quest to finding lasting solutions to these ugly developments,”