NASS building no longer safe, says Elumelu

THE Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, has decried the dilapidation of the National Assembly Complex, noting that some offices in the White House section of the building leak whenever it rained.

 Elumelu raised a point of order under privileges, to lament the situation during plenary, on Wednesday.

 The lawmaker warned that the bad state of the building was now becoming a threat to the safety of lawmakers, saying, “If something is not done to address it, nobody owns one’s life but we never can tell what can happen.”

 He added, “Coming into this place, you can see the cleaners; they are busy packing (mopping) the water that is coming down from this chamber (roof). And to me, it is dangerous for our continuous participation in our day-to-day representation of our people, speaking for our people…for good legislation.

 “So, I think that Mr Speaker, something needs to be done to address the leaks that we are having within this chamber. This is my submission.”

 The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, in a brief remark said, “This is a very important matter of privilege that affects the whole House in terms of the infrastructure here. Your point of order is noted.”

 A downpour in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, in the morning of June 22, 2021, had left several parts of the complex flooded, especially the central lobby at the ‘White House’ section of the building, which adjoins the Senate and House of Representatives chambers.

 The management of the National Assembly had contacted the Federal Capital Development Authority over the dilapidated state of the parliament building.

 The Director of Information, National Assembly, Mr Rawlings Agada, said, “The management has made contact through the Director of Estate Management to the Director of Public Works at the FCDA.

 “I understand that there was a scheduled visit to the site today but I cannot confirm if they have attended to that. They agreed to assess the situation by today. Cumulatively, all action towards remedying what happened here yesterday is on.”

 The Federal Government had proposed N37bn for the renovation of the complex, which generated wide condemnation. The amount was later slashed to N9.2bn.

Credit: Punch