After Resolving To Probe Two Govt Programmes, Agencies, Senate Adjourns Sitting

The Senate’s Plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Thursday, only took the Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday’s Plenary, and subsequently adjourned to allow senators to attend the 73rd Session of Executive Committee and 41st Conference of Speakers of the African Parliamentary Union (APU), holding in Abuja.

On resumption of Plenary at about 11:10 a.m., Ekweremadu had made the announcement that the Upper Legislative Chamber would only attend to the Votes and Proceedings, which is the second item on the Order Paper.

The Majority Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, moved the motion to suspend Thursday’s proceedings, and was seconded by the Minority Leader, Senator Abiodun Olujimi.

Lawan’s motion, however, was not given the support by his colleagues.

Ekweremadu urged him to appeal to his colleagues in a milder and friendlier way to get their support.

Thereafter, Lawan moved the motion to adjourn sitting till the next legislative day being Tuesday, November 13, which Olujimi also seconded.

When the motion was put to voice vote by Ekweremadu, the senators gave their support to the motion, as the ayes had it.

THE WHISTLER reports that the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, is the current Chairman of the APU.

Meanwhile, the plenary adjournment comes after the Senate resolved during the week to probe alleged corruption in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

The Red Chamber had resolved to also probe alleged usage of funds of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) to secure Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in 2019. It equally reached a resolution to probe the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P) of the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.