Senate plenary: We have never amended our rules to sit once per week ― Basiru

Senator representing Osun Central and Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Ajibola Basiru, has denied a media report that the Red Chamber has amended its rules and now sit once a week.

A national newspaper, (not Nigerian Tribune) has exclusively reported, on Tuesday, that both chambers of the National Assembly have resolved to sit once a week as a result of a financial crunch.

The newspaper also claimed that federal lawmakers could not embark on Constituency Projects owing to lack of fund.

But speaking with select journalists in Abuja, spokesman of the Senate said at no time did the Senate resolved to amend its rules to review its Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday plenary sessions to once per week.

While he admitted that the House of Representatives now sits for once a week, Senator Basiru said there have been instances since its resumption in January that the Senate conducted plenary even on Monday to attend to pending requests from the Executive.

He further acknowledged that the Red Chamber has sat for twice, in the last two weeks due to the second wave of the pandemic, Coronavirus.

He said: “Today is March 9 and we have a 12-month calendar. There is nothing that says we won’t sit for 180 days. It is therefore irresponsible for anybody to insinuate that we would not sit for 180 days. Those who are saying we won’t achieve the mandatory 180 days are just creating unnecessary tension where there is none.

“Nobody can predict that we won’t sit for 180 days, it is too early in the year to determine that. Despite last year’s lockdown, we achieved our mandatory 180 days sitting.

“There was no circular that we have reduced sitting to once in a week. We have been having sitting three times a week since the beginning of this year at the Senate. We have also had sitting twice a week. There is a second wave of COVID- 19 pandemic. We are very brisk in our business these days. When it was necessary, we had had occasions to sit on a Monday this year.”

Senator Basiru who noted that the National Assembly is on the first-line charge from the Federation Account maintained that there was no paucity of fund bedevilling the National Assembly and activities of the lawmakers. He further dismissed claims in the report that lawmakers receive the sitting allowance.

“The issue of a cash crunch hitting the National Assembly is the figment of the imagination of the writers. I have just returned from my constituency where I went to supervise the projects that I facilitated and being implemented by the executive arm of government. There is no senator that would say he or she cannot go to their constituencies due to the non-funding of their constituency projects.

“The National Assembly as far as I am concerned is not owing to its staff, salaries. The management is not also owing to any lawmaker. It is totally wrong to say that the National Assembly is relying on the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to fund its committee works. If that is even the case, that will even be a conflict of interest.

“I don’t know the intention behind that story but it is concocted and a deliberate attempt to pitch the National Assembly against the Executive or to pitch the public against us that we are not living up to our expectations. The National Assembly does not rely on the MDAs to fund our activities. We have the budget for our committees and oversight.

Also, when there are specific needs in terms of consultancy services or special travels to do our jobs, the bureaucracy support such assignment. It does not make sense to rely on the same MDAs we are over sighting for funding again. The National Assembly has the first-line charge. There is no senator or member of the House of Representatives that can come out and say he or she has not been paid.

“We adjourned today without holding plenary in line with our parliamentary tradition to honour any of our deceased colleagues. We met twice last week and attended to several bills, and confirmation of appointment. There is no official position on the number of days that we will be sitting per week.

“Sitting at plenary does not require money. It just requires the printing of order papers. We are not collecting sitting allowances. There are no pecuniary financial requirements for us to sit. I don’t see how finance can hinder our sitting. We are not collecting sitting allowance, we only collect salaries at the end of the month. We are in March and all our February salaries have been paid.

“The only thing we need during plenaries are printing of reports and the Committee on Business and Rules which is being adequately funded by the management is handling that. We are merely observing COVID- 19 health and safety protocols and we won’t do anything that would be hazardous to the health of our members. We have never amended our rules to sit once per week.”

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Senate plenary: We have never amended our rules to sit once per week ― Basiru