20th January, 2020
Senator Godiya Akwashiki, the acting Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said the leadership of the red chamber was not bothered by the public outcry and lawsuit initiated against the N37bn allocated to the Federal Capital Development Authority for the renovation of the National Assembly complex.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, BudgIT, Enough is Enough, and 583 concerned Nigerians had filed a suit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja, to restrain President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the National Assembly and others from releasing N37bn allocated to the Federal Capital Development Authority for the renovation of the National Assembly until an impact assessment of the spending was carried out.
When contacted to know if the red chamber had raised a legal team to respond to the lawsuit, the Senate spokesperson said, “They (SERAP and others) are wasting their time. We don’t have anything to tell them in court. National Assembly doesn’t know anything about what they are talking about.
“We don’t know how they (the FCDA) arrive at their figure. The money is also not in our budget; so, why are they taking us to court when the building does not even belong to us.
“Don’t worry, when we get there, you will know.”
Akwashiki had, in an interview with journalists on Monday, explained that the leadership of the National Assembly only informed the owners of the complex, when the building was giving signs of imminent collapse.
He noted that the leadership and the management of the federal parliament would neither be involved in the award of the contract nor fund it from their budget, The Punch reported.