Senate, House Of Reps Adjourn For Lack Of Quorum

He said: “I have taken stock of senators and I doubt if we have formed quorum
Resumed sitting of the Senate on Tuesday was stalled due to lack of quorum. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that only 13 Senators out of 109 members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly were present, a development that prompted the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, to call for adjournment. Ndoma-Egba, announced adjournment of sitting to April 14. He said the lawmakers would observe the Easter break and resume plenary after the governorship and House of Assembly elections. He said: “I have taken stock of senators and I doubt if we have formed quorum. “I call for adjournment till April 14 for members to participate in the governorship and state assembly elections and for the Easter break.” Speaking before the adjournment, the President of the Senate, David Mark, said it would be difficult to form a quorum throughout the week. Mark said: “We are all glued to the television at the moment. “I think it is going to be difficult for us to form a quorum the whole week. “I think it is only appropriate for us to resume the first Tuesday after the gubernatorial and states’ assembly elections because of the various political activities and the Easter break. “I think that is the basis on which the Senate Leader made the proposal.” Briefing journalists after the adjournment, Ndoma-Egba explained: “By our rules, the quorum is made up of one-third of the membership and we didn’t have the numbers today. “I believe the reasons are obvious. “We are in the middle of very intense political activity. “Elections held a few days ago. “Results are still being announced and quite a number of senators participated and they certainly couldn’t be here. “So, we didn’t have the numbers and without the quorum, you cannot take any decisions, including approving the votes and proceedings. “We have to quickly adjourn to enable members to go and listen to the outcome of the presidential and other elections. “Immediately after that is Easter, followed by the next line of elections. “So, practically, it will be impossible for the Senate to reconvene before April 14, 2015.” Ndoma-Egba advised Nigerians to be lawful in their conduct and not to take the laws into their hands. On the 2015 budget, the Senate Leader said constitutionally, the budget of the previous year would be in operation until June. “As it stands now, there is no constitutional lacuna as the country still has a budget,” he explained. The resumed plenary in the House of Representatives could also not hold on Tuesday due to lack of quorum as only 16 out of 360 members showed up. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who spoke on the floor of the House, announced that the House would, therefore, resume plenary on April 1. Tambuwal said: “I can say that this is the first time we are recording the lowest attendance of lawmakers in this chamber. “And I can understand that it is in view of what is going on in the country. “Since yesterday, results were being released. “And, of course, we are waiting for the big one, which is the announcement of the presidential result.” The Leader of the House, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola (Oyo-PDP), moved the motion for adjournment. The motion was unanimously adopted without contributions from the16 members that turned up in the house.