In response to a wide public outcry against plans to spend a whopping N37 billion on the renovation of the National Assembly; the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator, Godiya Akwashike says the building is at the brink of collapse, explaining why it requires urgent repair.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Senate Spokesman, said the National Assembly building which was built 20 years ago was in very bad shape; pointing out that what the National Assembly did was to simply drew the attention of the owners of the building, the Federal Capital Development Authorities(FCDA) to the poor condition of the structure.
It was, however, difficult to immediately verify Akwashike’s claim that the National Assembly building was collapsing without a report from a Structural Engineer to that effect.
Also Read: President Buhari seeks Senate approval for fresh $29.96bn loan
Akwashike also said that the FCDA and not the National Assembly was in charge of the contracts; arguing that the National Assembly simply gave approval to the request by FCDA just as it granted approval to other items in the 2020 budget.
The plans to renovate the National Assembly building with N37 billion had sparked very negative reactions from the public; questioning the rationale and the integrity of the current leadership of the National Assembly.
This was as Civil Society groups including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project(SERAP) had asked the court to stop the planned renovation exercise.
The National Assembly building was built in 1999 by the Federal Capital Development Authorities (FCDA) at the cost of $35.18million, about N7 billion.
