Gbajabiamila inspects renovation projects at NASS, calls for speedy completion

..Says 2023 budget presentation likely in 1st week of October

By Linda Ike

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has called for the speedy completion of the ongoing renovation of the National Assembly complex ahead of the delivery deadline of August 2023.

Gbajabiamila made the call in Abuja during the tour and inspection of the work, particularly, the House of Representatives Chamber, the dome and foyer of the complex.

He warned that speeding up the pace of completion of the renovation must not compromise the quality of the work to be delivered.

The Speaker commended that the renovation which commenced last month had progressed well, urging the project managers to speed up the pace and beat the deadline.

He stated, “This work started in August, a few weeks behind schedule, but for a good reason. So far between August and now, giant strides have been made; you can see the whole chamber has been ripped apart, and the innovations are going to be state-of-the-art.

“We will be proud to have a chamber that matches the best standard all over the world; so I am quite impressed with the work so far.

“I would encourage them to double the pace because, as it is, this is not for the benefit of the 9th Assembly but for the benefit of the 10th Assembly.” The whole chamber isn’t going to be ready until sometime in August next year; so we are talking close to a year, and that tells you the level of work that is going on.”

According to Gbajabiamila, Lawmakers will reconvene from their annual break next week to hold plenary sittings in a temporary chamber already prepared at Hearing Room 028.

He said, “So far so good, we are happy and this temporary site where we will be sitting for the next 9-10 months, is obviously a far cry from where we used to be…

“This used to be a hearing room to a legislative chamber, a lot of adaptations and a lot of innovations have been made and we are quite pleased with the work so far; so we are ready to go.”

The Speaker said the 10th Assembly would most likely be inaugurated in the temporary chamber, except the project managers would be able to complete the renovation of the main chamber months before the scheduled deadline.

“The 10th Assembly more than likely will kick off from here unless work can be accelerated, but you don’t want to accelerate work and compromise the quality of the work, so it’s better late but done well. Anything worth doing is worth doing well”, he added.

Gbajabiamila also disclosed that the 2023 budget presentation would likely be done in the first week of October.