Buhari meets NASS leadership in Villa

Buhari meets NASS leadership in Villa

…Ekweremadu, Akpabio, Ogor, PDP officers absent

 —-By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

 ABUJA – AFTER about four failed attempts for the Principal Officers of the National Assembly to meet with Presidency, the leadership of the two arms last night met in a closed-door at the First Lady Conference Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari in a handshake with the President of the Senate Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara during the meeting with members of National Assembly Executives at the State House in Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari in a handshake with the President of the Senate Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara during the meeting with members of National Assembly Executives at the State House in Abuja. But only one out of the eight principal officers from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was in attendance. The Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara led the delegation with all the principal officers from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, present, while the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, the Senate Minority Leader, Goswill Akpabio and the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives. Leo Ogor were conspicuously missing at the meeting which started about 9:10pm. Other principal officers present were deputy speaker, Lasun Yusuf, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, Senator Sola Adeyeye, Senate Minority Whip, Philip Aduda, House Chief Whip, Hon. Al-Hassan Dogowa, and Deputy Whip, Hon. Pally Iriase It was the Senate Minority Whip, Philip Aduda that was the only principal officers that attended the meeting. Apart from Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, and Godswill Akpabio-Minority Leader, that were absent, others were Emmanuel Bwacha, Senate Deputy Minority Leader and Biodun Olujimi-Deputy Senate Minority Whip, Chukwuma Onyema, deputy minority leader, House of Representatives Those from the Executive present were, Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu and Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang. Though agenda of the meeting was not made public it was gathered that the frosty relationship between the two arms of government, the 2018 budget, 2019 election sequence, Peace Corp bill, as well as security issues may dominate discussion. As at the time of filing this report, the meeting was still ongoing. 

source: vanguard