The death of a lawmaker and focus on money bills impacted our Legislative Intelligence Forecast Entry (LIFE) for last week
Before we dive into the details of this report card of our LIFE predictions last week, it’s important to note that it was a “slow week” for the National Assembly. With a plenary session suspended for one day and another day largely consumed by President Bola Tinubu’s money bills, little room was left to address other legislative activities, resulting in a score of 28.27%. Here’s how things played out:
Another tragedy, another plenary suspension
OrderPaper predicted that the House and Senate would suspend their plenary sessions on Tuesday to mourn the sudden death of Rep. Ekene Abubakar Adams Adams, aged 39, who represented the Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency in Kaduna State and served as chairman, House committee on sports. As anticipated, the Senate and the House of Representatives suspended their sessions on Tuesday to honour Rep. Ekene.
In the House, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas (APC,Kaduna) highlighted the Rep’s dedication to his community and contributions to sports. In the Senate, the President, Godswill Akpabio (APC, Akwa Ibom) announced Rep. Ekene’s death, and Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti), proposed suspension of activities for the day. Both chambers observed a minute of silence and adjourned plenary until the next day, Wednesday, July 17, 2024.
Building collapse
As predicted by OrderPaper, both the House of Representatives and the Senate addressed the tragic collapse of a school building in Jos. The House of Representatives tasked its committees on basic education and housing to investigate the collapse which resulted in 22 deaths and about 100 injured. The motion which was moved by Rep. Daniel Asama (LP Plateau) and seven other members urged the federal ministry of education and relevant stakeholders to create a comprehensive policy on school infrastructure to ensure the safety of school children. Additionally, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was mandated to provide necessary support and assistance to the victims.
In a parallel move, the Senate called for a thorough investigation into the tragedy. This motion, sponsored by the three Plateau Senators; Senator Pam Mwadkon (ADP, Plateau North), Senator Diket Plang (APC, Plateau Central), and Senator Simon Bako Lalong(APC, Plateau South), highlighted the heartbreaking loss of young lives and urged the federal government and relevant agencies to punish construction guidelines violators and implement measures to prevent future building collapses.
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