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abujagirl
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The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang on Thursday in Abuja said that the Senate exceeded the constitutional required days for sitting in plenary in the last legislative year.
Enang made the clarification when he briefed the press on allegation that the Senate had lost up to 41 sitting days in the last session.
He said, "some days ago, one of the national dailies reported that we sat for a period shorter than the constitutional provisions. We are conscious that the constitution provides that the National Assembly and even the Houses of Assembly shall sit for a minimum of 181 days.
"I want to confirm to you that the Senate for the period June 6, 2013 to June 5, 2014 did sit for a period of 190 days.”
Enang explained that the sitting of the Upper Legislative Chamber was usually determined by the order paper as each sitting was printed on the day’s order paper.
"Now, how you determine the sitting of the Senate is that you take the order paper and you look at the top left corner and you will see the particular number of sitting the legislative house has done. As at June 3, 2014, we sat for 188 days and as at today, we are on the 13th sitting day of the fourth legislative session,” he said.
The chairman explained that there were some days when the Senate sat in committees and not in plenary, particularly while considering the Appropriation Act.
He said it was important for the various committees to meet to entertain various Ministries, Departments and Agencies to defend their budget estimates.
The lawmaker noted that the work of the committees was also part of legislative work, adding that this underscored the need for the Senate to suspend plenary to sit in committees.
#ItaEnang #Abuja
Enang made the clarification when he briefed the press on allegation that the Senate had lost up to 41 sitting days in the last session.
He said, "some days ago, one of the national dailies reported that we sat for a period shorter than the constitutional provisions. We are conscious that the constitution provides that the National Assembly and even the Houses of Assembly shall sit for a minimum of 181 days.
"I want to confirm to you that the Senate for the period June 6, 2013 to June 5, 2014 did sit for a period of 190 days.”
Enang explained that the sitting of the Upper Legislative Chamber was usually determined by the order paper as each sitting was printed on the day’s order paper.
"Now, how you determine the sitting of the Senate is that you take the order paper and you look at the top left corner and you will see the particular number of sitting the legislative house has done. As at June 3, 2014, we sat for 188 days and as at today, we are on the 13th sitting day of the fourth legislative session,” he said.
The chairman explained that there were some days when the Senate sat in committees and not in plenary, particularly while considering the Appropriation Act.
He said it was important for the various committees to meet to entertain various Ministries, Departments and Agencies to defend their budget estimates.
The lawmaker noted that the work of the committees was also part of legislative work, adding that this underscored the need for the Senate to suspend plenary to sit in committees.
#ItaEnang #Abuja
