Senate, Reps postpone resumption to July 28

he National Assembly yesterday formally announced the postponement of the resumption of plenary from July 21 to July 28. The extension was contained in a notice issued by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, M. A. Sani-Omolori.

“This is to inform all Honourable members of the House of Representatives of the postponement of resumption of plenary session from adjourned date of Tuesday, 21st July to Tuesday, 28th July 2015,” Sani-Omolori said in the notice. A similar notice was sent to the 108 senators by the Ag, Clerk of the Senate, Adedotun Durojaiye,.

The fresh extension is an indication that the crisis over the composition of the committees and principal offices in the Senate and House of Representatives is not over. Indications emerged yesterday that the constitution of the Senate standing committees would be delayed even as the Senate resumes next week Tuesday.

A source close to the Senate leadership, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, told Sunday Telegraph yesterday in Abuja that the committees would not be put in place until after the annual recess of the National Assembly, which is yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, the Selection Committee, which usually sets up the standing committees is not yet in place as a result of the lingering bickering in the Senate over the leadership positions.

The source said that all pending contentious issues in the Upper Chamber had to be resolved before the leadership of the Chamber could think of announcing the standing committees and their leaders.

He argued that going into such venture without resolving all pending grievances among the lawmakers would amount to a costly blunder on the part of the leadership. He said such an action would worsen the existing friction in the Senate.“Who is talking about committees now?

I can assure you that committees will not be constituted in the Senate until after the annual recess, which may come in September or so. Are you not aware of the lingering rift in the Senate since the inauguration of the National Assembly about six weeks ago. “Do you think that the leadership of the current Senate is so daft to dabble into such a matter suddenly?

They must first of all calm all agitated minds before constituting the committees, particularly those who lost in the various leadership contests and are still embittered and threatening to destabilise the Chamber,” the source noted.