Once more, the National Assembly has pushed back the date for resuming plenary sessions, now slated for April 30th, to ensure complete renovation of the main chambers.
Originally set for April 23rd after the Easter and Eid recess, both the Senate and House of Representatives have announced this rescheduling.
Chinedu Akubueze, the Clerk of the Senate, issued a notice regarding the postponement, clarifying that upon resumption, lawmakers will convene once again in the main chambers.
Since September 2022, both Houses have been operating from temporary chambers due to the renovation initiated by Visible Construction Company Nigeria Limited in July 2022.
The notice read, “Distinguished Senators are hereby, respectfully informed that the resumption of plenary, which was earlier postponed to Tuesday 23rd April 2024, has further been postponed to Tuesday 30th April 2024 at 11 am.
“Kindly note that the plenary sitting will be held at the main Chamber of the Senate. All inconveniences this postponement may cause Distinguished Senators are highly regretted, please.”
Likewise, as per Chairman Akin Rotimi’s announcement, the House Committee on Media stated that the House would resume session on April 30th to ensure lawmakers have ample time to finalize the constitution review process.
Quoting the House of Representatives’ Clerk, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, Rotimi conveyed in an internal communication to Honourable Members on Wednesday that the extension was intended to provide them with additional time for constituency outreach to gather sufficient input for the constitution review process.
The statement read, “The extension follows the earlier decision by the House Committee on Constitution Review to extend the deadline for submission of memoranda to April 30, 2024.
“Additionally, the extended timeline will allow for more concerted preparation for the legislative summits on State Police, as well as the one on Tax Reforms, Revenue Enhancement, and Digital Transformation coming up in the next two weeks.”
“All inconveniences arising from this rescheduling are regretted. In line with the Legislative Agenda of the 10th Assembly, the House remains committed to being accountable and providing timely communications to all stakeholders,” it added.
