Senate To Resume February 17th

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, said on Tuesday that the Senate had no intention to reconvene earlier than February 17 in spite of the rescheduling of the general election.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the Senate would take advantage of the postponement of the elections to consider the 2015 Appropriation Bill in addition to others.

“We are going to use the advantage of this postponement and take on those bills which we ought to have taken immediately after the election,’’ he said.

The lawmaker also urged the Federal Government, INEC and other major stakeholders to build the confidence of Nigerians and the international community in the country’s electoral process.

“The Federal Government, INEC and every person concerned with the conduct of the elections should build the confidence of Nigerians in all they are doing.

“They should do confidence-building in Nigerians and the international community because the economy of Nigeria is fragile now. And if we have a fragile political situation, it could be worse for the economy; it could be worse for the currency.”

NAN recalled that Senate adjourned sitting on January 14 to resume on February 17 after the general election, now rescheduled for March 28 and April 11 for presidential and governorship elections, respectively.

The INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, on Saturday, announced the shift of the election dates by six weeks to enable the security agencies to provide adequate protection for the more than 700,000 staff during the exercise.

The Presidential and National Assembly elections had been fixed for February 14, while governorship and House of Assembly polls were slated for February 28.