Akpabio Raises Alarm Over Security Threats By Hoodlums At N’Assembly Complex

–-Says Tinubu ‘ll Inaugurate NASS projects in December

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has raised the alarm over what he described as the invasion of the National Assembly Complex by hoodlums, who lay siege on Senators and members of the House of Representatives, stressing that lawmakers now feel threatened by their presence.

He said as the 10th NASS settles down for legislative activities, hoodlums and people who do not have any business in the premises, stand or wait around without purpose at the Senate and Reps wings, begging and constituting security nuisance against lawmakers and staff of the National Assembly.

This was as he revealed that President Bola Tinubu would commission renovation works currently going on within the National Assembly Complex in December this year.

Akpabio made these statements when the management and other members of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) paid him a courtesy visit at the weekend, in his office at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

He made the lamentation about the security challenge facing the lawmakers, after the Chairman of the NASC, Ahmed Kadi Amshi, who presented the challenges faced by the Commission and other issues to him ended his remarks.

Also, reacting to the issue of staff allowances raised by the Commission’s Chairman, Akpabio said he was aware of enormous resources channelled towards staff comfort, stressing that everything was not about the welfare of staff.

While expressing displeasure over the infrastructural decay, filthiness and insecurity at the Complex, Akpabio said that there were cases of lawmakers being dispossed of their telephones and other valuables by the hoodlums who positioned themselves at strategic places and in front of offices.

He also expressed worries ove the infrastructural decay and untidy environment in which the 10th National Assembly operates.

Akpabio said, “we are aware that the entire Complex is under renovation. We must also look after the environment. It is not all about the staff. We will like to see a cleaner environment and a secure Complex. A lot of Senators have lost their telephones because of the influx of people into the Complex.”

Also, the former Akwa-Ibom Governor, hinted that President Tinubu would commission the N30 billion worth different projects ongoing at the National Assembly in December this year.

“The entire Complex of the National Assembly is like a construction site now due to ongoing general renovation work and fresh projects which would on completion, be commissioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in December this year.

“Apart from the general renovation work, part of new edifices being put in place, is the permanent office complex of the National Assembly Service Commission and very beffiting Library Complex,” he said.

Though Akpabio did not state amount of the money that had been released to contractors handling the project the 9th National Assembly, appropriated N30 billion to Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for execution of the project, out of which as at March this year, only N9 billion was released.

The President of the Senate also assured the NASC Chairman, Engineer Amshi on prompt documentation of the legislative aides, saying that the September deadline, would be adhered to.

The NASC Chairman, had declared end of September this year as deadline for documentation of legislative aides serving the entire 469 federal lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“Your Excellency, Mr President of the Senate, please help us to inform the serving Senators and by extension, Hon. members of the 10th National Assembly, to forward names of their appointed legislative aides to us for required documentation and payments of monthly salaries. The Commission has opened relevant files for this purpose and fixed September this year as deadline. “By September, let us finish the issue of legislative aides,” Amshi said.

He added that within the last three years, the Commission under his administration had promoted a total of 2, 775 staff, converted about 447 others from one cadre to the other and set code of ethics for ethical conducts of staff at all times.