Moves to reconvene the National Assembly remained unsuccessful yesterday, even as the row sparked by the long recess grew.
Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara said there was no agreement that the National Assembly should reopen. But All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in the National Assembly insisted that there was an agreement to reopen the Assembly.
House Deputy Speaker Yussuf Lasun, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan and House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila said presiding officers must reconvene the Assembly immediately to avoid any form of sabotage, which will not augur well for the APC.
Saraki and Dogara said that no date was fixed to reconvene the two chambers of the National Assembly to consider the budget for the 2019 elections.
Saraki and Dogara, in a joint statement issued yesterday, said no date had been set for the reconvening of the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) 2019 elections budget request forwarded by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 17, 2018.
The failure to reconvene the National Assembly, to the APC Assembly chiefs, could spark a constitutional crisis that will pose a potential threat to the current democratic dispensation as it will affect the preparation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for next year’s elections.
Speaking at a meeting with the members of the National Working Committee of the party in Abuja, Lasun, Lawan and Gbajabiamila said presiding officers must reconvene the Assembly immediately.
House Speaker Dogara did not attend the meeting.
The Deputy Speaker said it was unfortunate that the National Assembly could not reconvene on Tuesday as earlier agreed by the presiding officers.
He said: “I am not particularly happy that we are not able to reconvene the Assembly today because we decided few days back that we are going to sit and consider those items that are very important and may likely hamper the function of INEC and other programmes without which the implementation of the capital component of the 2018 budget would have been slightly difficult.”
The Nation
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