The 9th National Assembly has postponed its date of resumption from its recess by two weeks.
This was made known by the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde Amos, on Friday. He said the resumption has been rescheduled to 29th September.
The lawmakers adjourned plenary sessions in July to embark on the annual recess which was meant to last for eight weeks. The assembly was due to resume plenary sessions on September 15.
The statement signed by the clerk reads: “This is to inform all Distinguished Senators and Honourable members of the National Assembly that the resumption of plenary session earlier scheduled for Tuesday, 15th September, 2020 is hereby rescheduled for Tuesday 29th September, 2020.
“We regret any inconvenience caused by this change of date.”
The clerk, however, gave no reason for the new arrangement. This postponement is coming after a coalition of 39 civil society organisations (CSOs) kicked against the lawmakers’ decision to go on a break.
The coalition had called out the National Assembly for failing to meet for 181 days in its first legislative year as stipulated by the Nigerian constitution.
According to CSOs, the legislative year is June 2019 to July 2020; “They have had two months’ vacation, 56 days public holiday, 42 day Yuletide, 49 days coronavirus break, in addition to 62 days for Saturdays and Sunday. This means 216 days out of 365 days in a year,”
That means the National Assembly sat for only 149 days instead of the 181 days prescribed under section 63 of the Nigerian constitution.
