Leaking Roof: Flood Takes Over National Assembly (Video/Photos)

By Edna Wande On Jun 22, 2021

Senate lobby of National Assembly Complex was affected by the heavy rainfall in Abuja on Tuesday morning.

The flooding was the main lobby of the legislative complex – between both chambers – that had water dripping from the roof to other parts of the building. The Press Centre, where journalists sit to monitor plenary, was also affected.

The situation did not stop the lawmakers from proceeding with plenary even as cleaners battled to get rid of the water.

Tuesday’s incident comes despite numerous budgetary allocations, amounting to billions of naira, for renovation of the National Assembly complex.

One of such was the approval of N37 billion by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 – an act which sparked outrage among many Nigerians.

Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, later clarified that only N9.2 billion was provided for renovation/retrofitting of National Assembly (NASS) complex in the revised budget as against N37 billion.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had said the allocation was because there has been no major renovation of the complex for 20 years and “many parts of the complex are dilapidated.”

He also said the renovation will begin with the chambers and the committee rooms in the White House.

Although some repairs were done in the complex, it is not exactly clear how many committee rooms have been renovated, the level of repairs done and whether the roof was among the items scheduled for the repairs. Tuesday’s incident will, however, cause many to question the judicious use of the amount spent on the renovation.

See videos and photos of the leaking roof;