Tension as National Assembly members resume plenary today

The greatest fear among some members of the National Assembly staff was whether the federal lawmakers, who just returned from foreign trips would be part of the plenary today. A few of them, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, urged the leadership of the two chambers to excuse the affected legislators from coming to the office or attend plenary immediately.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Senate, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, said he was not aware if his colleagues had gone for the coronavirus test. He also said he could not confirm if the affected senators would attend plenary. Akwashiki said, “There is no way that I will know if the affected senators have gone for the test or not because they don’t report to me.

I can also not confirm if they would be part of the plenary tomorrow (Tuesday) because I have no such information.  Akwashiki had told journalists covering the Senate to bear with the leadership of the red chamber over the poor state of ever crowded facility, pledging that something would be done about it soon.

He had said,  “There is no way we can close down the Press Centre. Doing so will mean closing down the Senate chamber too.” There were, however, strong indications on Monday that the leadership of the two chamber would adjourn plenary as from Tuesday (today)  as part of the measure to curb the alarming spread of COVID-19.