N’Assembly’s Rooftops Leak as Senate Resumes Plenary

N’Assembly’s Rooftops Leak as Senate Resumes Plenary

By Deji Elumoye and Juliet Akoje

As Senate resumed plenary yesterday after a 12-day recess to mark the two-year anniversary of the ninth National Assembly, heavy rainfall may have destroyed many parts of the Assembly rooftops said to have been built about 30 years ago, thus causing minor flood in the central lobby of the complex.

The flooding prevented the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, from entering the Senate chambers early until about 11.00a.m., when he moved in to preside over the plenary attended by many senators.

Apart from the lobby, other parts of the Assembly seriously affected by the roof leakage include the Senate Press Centre and the United Bank of Africa (UBA) branch at the Assembly filled with water from the leaking roofs.

Staffers of the Thyaura Company, official cleaners in the National Assembly, battled to clean and control the water as the intensity of the rainfall increased

Senators, staff members and visitors were forced to wait at the lobby for many minutes before proceeding to the chamber, their offices and other destinations as more cleaners were called to join their colleagues to control and clean the water.

Signs that the building constructed by Arab Contractors during the late General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) military regime, required urgent rehabilitation have shown signals at different segments of the structure within the last 10 years.

The federal government in an attempt to address the ugly trend, earmarked the sum of N37 billion for the renovation of the complex in the 2020 budget.

But the public outcry against the money considered to be huge by some concerned Nigerians made the federal government to cut it to N18billion during the review of the 2020 budget caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

It is, however, not clear whether the N18billion was given 100 percent cash backing in the implementation of the 2020 budget.

Efforts to speak with the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Mr. Amos Ojo Olatunde, proved abortive yesterday as he neither picked his calls nor replied text and WhatsApp messages sent to his phones.

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