Senate cuts holidays, resumes plenary today

…purchase of presidential aircrafts likely to top agenda

By Tunde Opalana

Plenary resumes today at the Red Chamber of the National Assembly as senators cut their Dallah break by one legislative day. The Senate supposed to resume sitting on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

Chairman Senate Committee on Information, Yemi Adaramodu who disclosed this on Wednesday though did not give any reason for summoning the lawmakers ahead of the Tuesday resumption, said the parliament can amend its calendar.

Adaramodu in a short notification said “it’s our statutory resumption from the Sallah break. Senate has the constitutional power to regulate its sessions and we believe that we could gain one more legislative day to deal with national and constitutional issues, hence the bringing forward from the initial July 2.

“We hope to deal with issues concerning our further oversight on the Appropriations and clear further the hanging issues of constitutional and electoral concerns. And clear outstanding bills and motions, expectedly before our annual recess, later in the year.”

READ ALSO: Mbappe hits first Euros goal as France finishes second…

However, there is suspicion that one of the pressing national issues the Senate might urgently want to discuss is the approval or otherwise of move by the Presidency to purchase two aircrafts as additional to the presidential fleet.

Though the President of the Senator two days earlier in Maiduguri, Borno State was quoted to have said that the Senate is not proposing the purchase of aircrafts for the president and his vice, Kashim Shettima.

The Daily Times recalled that last week, reports filtered in the media that the Senate President made a comment that the Senate would approve the purchase of new aircraft for the President and Vice President irrespective of the fact that Nigerians are hungry.

Denying the report, Akpabio had said that, “I want to dispell the rumour that you are hearing that the Senate President said he will buy a new plane for the President and his Vice, irrespective of the fact that Nigerians are hungry or whatever.

“I never said that. I was actually in Zanzibar, Tanzania, It is the handiwork of propagandists and fifth columnists, who never see anything good in what we are doing. “