The House of Representatives resumed plenary session on Tuesday but abruptly adjourned after a two-hour closed-door session, leaving several bills and motions listed on the order paper unattended.

The sitting, presided over by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, began with the recitation of the National Anthem, prayer and a brief announcement, before the House went for an executive session.

The House remained behind closed doors for nearly two hours.

When the House reconvened, Hon. Uzokwe Peter Lovepet Ifeanyi (Dike-Udo), representing Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, attempted to raise a point of order, but was not recognised by Speaker Abbas, who proceeded instead to entertain a motion for adjournment.

Thereafter, the Majority Leader moved a motion for adjournment, which was carried without debate, adjourning plenary till Wednesday.

Although the outcome of the closed-door meeting was not disclosed, it might not be unconnected to last week’s tense standoff in the chamber, when lawmakers protested the non-release of funds for capital projects in the 2024 and 2025 budgets.

The members during an executive session presided over by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu lamented that contractors had abandoned project sites nationwide due to unpaid certificates, leaving them unable to demonstrate progress in their constituencies despite appropriations already passed by the National Assembly.

The decision to adjourn plenary meant that several major items slated for legislative action were left untouched. These include a motion calling on the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) to Establish a Special Agricultural Processing and Export Zone in Kebbi State which is to be moved by Hon. Ibrahim Mohammed, a motion on the indiscriminate sale of land and public assets in Federal Housing Authority FHA/ENL Estates, Guzape to be moved by Hon. Esosa Iyawe and the need to address the collapse of local rice farming and rice mill in Nigeria, among others.

Some of the key bills slated for second reading but left unattended include a Bill seeking to alter the Constitution to create additional Local Government Areas in Plateau State (HB.2590), sponsored by Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase; and a Bill to amend the Electricity Act, 2023 to provide a regulatory framework for the development and oversight of nuclear energy programmes in Nigeria (HB.2138), sponsored by Hon. Victor Obuzor.

Also deferred was the Bill to establish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Institute (EFCCI) to serve as a centre for training, research, policy development and strategic collaboration in combating economic and financial crimes (HB.2396), sponsored by Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi. (The Guardian)