The National Assembly has postponed the resumption of Nigeria’s federal lawmakers from their annual recess by one week.
No reason was given for the decision.
The lawmakers – senators and members of the House Representatives – were previously scheduled to resume from the recess next Tuesday, September 19. They have been on recess since July 27, when the House of Representatives voted on the fourth constitution alteration bill.
But according to a statement with the title “postponement of resumption” by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, on Wednesday, the resumption was extended by one week, giving eight weeks or two months of recess.
No reason was given for the postponement in the statement.
It read: “This is to inform all distinguished senators and honourable members of the National Assembly, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that the resumption date of both Houses in plenary has been rescheduled from Tuesday 19th September 2017 to Tuesday 26th September 2017.
“All distinguished senators and honourable members are by this notice requested to resume sitting in plenary on Tuesday, 26th September, 2017 at 10am prompt, please.”
Abdullahi Sabi and Abdulrazaq Namdas, the spokespersons for the Senate and the House of Representatives, did not answers calls initiated to provide explain the basis for postponement.
In 2015, there was similar development. But then, that year’s postponement was understood to create space for the lawmakers to resolve the leadership crisis that arose from the elections of presiding officers; and the initial earlier insistence of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara not to make Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila Senate Leader and House Leader respectively in line with the directives of the ruling All Progressives Congress.