The National Assembly on Tuesday resumed plenary after a two-month annual recess with a large turnout of members.

While plenary was supposed to start at 10am, the leadership train, led by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, entered the chamber at 11.42am.

Gbajabiamila, in his opening address, asked the Federal Government to obey the agreements reached with the organised labour, which made Nigerian workers to suspend the nationwide strike and protests earlier scheduled to begin on Monday.

He said, “In the course of these negotiations, the Federal Government made commitments to labour and the Nigerian people. These commitments must be adhered to as a matter of good conscience, and to the extent that doing so does not cause us to deviate from ongoing efforts to achieve essential and long-overdue reforms to our economy.”

Gbajabiamila read out communications from the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), including the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill.

In the letter dated September 2, 2020, the President partly said, “In particular, the House of Representatives may wish to note that this bill combines, in a single tone, aspects of significant reforms to the laws governing the Nigerian petroleum industry, that were previously set out in two distinct draft legislation, namely the Petroleum Industry Bill, 2020, and the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill, 2020.”

The Speaker also read a presidential request seeking the approval of the National Assembly for the Federal Government to reimburse five states for roads they constructed.

The House also observed one minute silence, separately, in honour of two members of the Senate, Senators Rose Oko and Buruji Kashamu.

 The Speaker also stated that for the first time in the history of the National Assembly, the House would sit in an “entirely digitised chamber” where the proceedings, including records of votes, would be taken appropriately in real-time and archived for all history.

 Meanwhile, Gbajabiamila decried the non-implementation of the provisions of the 2020 Appropriation Act by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.

 He said, “It is a betrayal of the public trust that undermines faith in the government and frustrates good faith efforts at national development. The House will take action against those who fail in their responsibilities in this regard. I sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The Speaker said while Buhari recently signed the Police Reform Law, the House had begun and would expedite work on the Armed Forces Trust Fund Bill “so that in the shortest possible time, we can finalise and pass legislation that ensures once and for all that the resources we need to protect the homeland are never at the mercy of politics or changes in policy or personnel.”