A sum of N37 billion has been approved by federal lawmakers for the renovation of the National Assembly complex. The N37 billion renovation cash is part of the N2.5trillion capital project provision which is to be carried out by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
National Assembly Director of Information, Dr. Rawlings Agada, said only the FCDA could speak on the renovation of the complex and the amount voted.
He said: “You know that the details of the budget bill are not out. So, speaking to you on it now would amount to jumping the gun. You should know that the Aso Rock Villa, the Judiciary, the Supreme Court and the Federal Secretariat are all tagged as special projects under the Federal Government. And the FCDA undertakes such projects on behalf of the Federal Government. If you ask me, I will tell you that you are asking the wrong person because it is FCDA that is in the picture of everything because that is their own budget and they should be speaking on what they want to renovate. We have made our proposal to them in terms of facility decay in the National Assembly which all of you are familiar with. The National Assembly needs a lot of work. I don’t think even that amount of money can take care of all those things because even the dome has been leaking and there is fear that if the repairs are not done, we might suffer greater problem in the future. I think the leadership of the National Assembly took note of that pursuant to the concerns raised by the management. That is just that because I don’t have the details of the budget but I am aware that there is a lot that needs to be done. Over time, the National Assembly management has been squeezing from the little that comes their way to repair things but anything that deals with physical infrastructure in terms of major repairs is usually captured under the Federal Government budget and it is done by the FCDA. So we cannot speak on that now. The details should come from them (FCDA).”