The House of Representatives is set to resume at the newly renovated green chamber after two years of renovation, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The decision to resume at the newly renovated chamber was reached on Thursday following extensive deliberation on the WhatsApp platform of the lawmakers.
Sources told this newspaper that most of the lawmakers during the chat spoke in favour of resuming at the newly renovated chamber as many are tired of the makeshift chamber.
Consequently, the lawmakers resolved to extend their holiday by a week to allow the contractors to put the finishing touches to the chamber.
The House was scheduled to resume on 16 April but has now postponed its resumption till 23 April so that they can use the main chamber.
The Clerk of the House, Yahaya Danzaria, was subsequently directed to issue a circular to postpone the resumption date.
In the statement issued late Friday, Mr Danzaria stated that “this adjustment is necessary to allow for the completion of renovations to the chamber of the House of Representatives, ensuring its readiness for plenary sessions, henceforth.”
The spokesperson of the House, Akin Rotimi (APC, Ekiti), confirmed the plans by the lawmakers to resume at the newly renovated chamber.
The renovation of the chamber started sometime around April 2022. Since then, the lawmakers have been using a makeshift chamber in one of the committee rooms.
Renovation of the Complex
In 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved N37 billion to renovate the National Assembly Complex.
This was contained in the budget of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), which maintains the complex.
The approval had generated outrage from Nigerians, who criticised the humongous amount for the renovation. Also, some lawmakers condemned the allocation for the renovation.
However, following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the government reviewed the allocation for the rehabilitation project to N9 billion, with the project to be done in phases.
Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported that the federal government awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the National Assembly complex to Visible Construction Limited for the sum of N42 billion.
According to the report, the renovation will include architectural, mechanical and electrical.
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