Senate blames FCDA as National Assembly roofs leaks despite billions budgeted

The Senate has blamed the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for its inability to renovate the National As­sembly complex following the profuse leaking of its roof on Tuesday after a heavy downpour in Abuja, adding that no money has been released for its renova­tion as touted.

The upper chamber said the National Assembly com­plex is a national monument which falls under the purview of control of the FCDA, not­ing that FCDA was respon­sible for its maintenance as well as renovation and not the leadership of the Nation­al Assembly as being falsely bandied.

A heavy downpour in Abuja on Tuesday, left the roofs of the National Assembly leaking profusely. This mostly affected the foyer of the White House. Following the incident, cleaners were immediately deployed to place containers at the leaking spots to trap water.

They were also seen mopping the affected areas to prevent it from getting flooded. Some Senators already in Chambers came out to have a view of the development.

This happened despite the billions of naira budgeted for the National Assembly yearly. The lawmakers had earmarked N37billion in the 2021 budget for repair of the complex, a figure that generated controversy in several quarters.

A statement by Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, Senate Spokesperson, noted, “Contrary to the widespread falsehood being peddled both in the mainstream and online media as a fall out of the reported incident of the leaking roof of the National Assembly complex after a heavy downpour on Tuesday, June 21, 2021, it is pertinent to inform the general public that the National Assembly and its leadership is not responsible for the maintenance and ren­ovation of the National As­sembly complex and it has not received a sum of N37 billion or any amount for the renova­tion of the complex.

“While it is true that an initial appropriation of the above stated sum was made due to the decaying nature of the National Assembly com­plex which has not witnessed any major maintenance or overhauling since construc­tion, the said amount was reduced to N9 billion after the breakout of COVID-19 pandemic. Even with this reduc­tion, the sum of N9 billion or any amount is yet to be cash backed or released to the Na­tional Assembly. None of this amount is even appropriated for the National Assembly bu­reaucracy or its leadership.”

The Senate spokesperson said the leakage witnessed justifies the apprehension of the leadership of the Nation­al Assembly and the FCDA and “further underscores the need for an urgent intervention in revamping the dilap­idated structures within the complex before it falls into further dilapidation with the attendant huge cost of possible replacement. ­