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Nigerian Senators, Reps Resume After Two Months’ Leave, To Discuss Chief Justice’s Confirmation, Lingering University Lecturers’ Strike

senate
September 20, 2022

A stakeholders' meeting has already been scheduled for today at 3 p.m. in Room 301 of the New Building in the House of Representatives Wing of the National Assembly Complex by Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila.
 

The lingering conflict between the Nigerian government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities is one of the pressing issues on the table when the National Assembly reconvenes on Tuesday (today) after its two-month yearly break.
A stakeholders' meeting has already been scheduled for today at 3 p.m. in Room 301 of the New Building in the House of Representatives Wing of the National Assembly Complex by Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila.
SaharaReporters had reported that Gbajabiamila had invited the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Labour, Employment, and Productivity, Chris Ngige; the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; the national leadership of ASUU, and other critical stakeholders to resolve the crisis that had led to lecturers shutting down the universities for over seven months.
PUNCH reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has forwarded to the National Assembly the 2023–2025 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for review and approval, the Minister of Finance revealed during the intermission.
The Senate and House Finance committees have each held separate hearings on the proposed MTEF and FSP, though Gbajabiamila, Ahmad Lawan, and the Senate President have yet to read the communication to members of their respective houses in plenary.
The committees are anticipated to present their reports on the MTEF and FSP at any time once Lawan and Gbajabiamila have finished reading Buhari's cover letter.
The President is anticipated to lay the 2023 appropriations bill by the first week of October, according to Gbajabiamila, “I’m hoping that the budget will be presented, at the latest, by the first week of October,” he had said at an event on September 14, 2022.
However, there are signs that Buhari won't deliver the budget in person, though, because of logistical issues brought on by the National Assembly Complex's current restoration.
Due to his second term ending on May 29, 2023, it would have been Buhari's final budget to be presented to the legislature. If Buhari does not deliver the budget this year, it will also be the first and only time during his eight-year presidency that he is not represented at the event..
The confirmation of Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the interim Chief Justice of Nigeria, is another matter that is anticipated to take centre stage.
When approached to provide a list of the important things on the MPs' agenda, Benjamin Kalu, the chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, responded that he was out of the country.
Meanwhile, the lawmakers will conduct plenaries in ad hoc chambers due to the renovations. The reconstruction, which began sometime in July, will last 14 months, which means the 10th National Assembly will be inaugurated outside the main chambers.
At the House, Conference Rooms 028 and 231 have been reconfigured for plenary. While the presiding and principal officers will be in Room 028 together with some members, others will be in Room 231 and connected to the session electronically. 
 A news bulletin issued by the Clerk to the House, Dr Yahaya Danzaria, dated September 17, 2022, noted that “due to the ongoing renovation taking place in the old chamber,” members are to hold their session elsewhere.
The bulletin partly read, “Members are expected to resume plenary on the same date at the new improvised chamber in Room 028 of the New Building, with a capacity for 118 seats only. This new chamber is extended by an upper deck provision in Room 231 of the New Building, with a capacity for 236 seats. The rooms are connected audio-visually and electronically with large screens.”

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Politics