Senate
President, Bukola Saraki, has, since his election as the chairman of
the National Assembly on June 9, been attending to official matters at
his private residence in the Maitama area of the Federal Capital
Territory because the N27.1bn official homes being built for National
Assembly’s principal officers are still under construction.
The former multi-million naira official
residence of the Senate President and those of other principal officers
had been sold in 2010 at give-away prices by the then President Olusegun
Obasanjo administration under the monetisation programme.
Former Senate President, David Mark; his
deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; former Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji
Bankole; and his deputy, Usman Nafada, had in 2010, bought their
official homes. Other lawmakers also did likewise.
The new homes being constructed by the government for the federal lawmakers at a cost of N27.1bn are still under construction.
Our correspondent, who visited Saraki’s
residence on Lake Chad Avenue on Friday, observed politicians trooping
in and out of the building.
Apart from the influx of vehicles in the
hitherto serene highbrow area, hawkers have also besieged the area with
their wares displayed on the road side.
An Abuja based legal practitioner, Simon
Ayede, in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, described the
sale of the official quarters by the Federal Government as
unconstitutional because “there is a subsisting Federal Government
gazette that certain official residences should not be sold.”
Ayede argued that the gazette listed some
of the official residences that should not be sold to include, the
Presidential Villa, the Senate President House, that of his deputy,
House of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and that of his
deputy.
He therefore urged President Muhammadu
Buhari to reverse the sales of the official quarters of the principal
officers so that they could be renovated for the use of the current
occupants of the positions.
However, another resident of Abuja, Mrs.
Stella Omowale, argued that allowing the principal officers to live
within the Apo Legislative Quarters would expose them to security risk.
“Building new quarters for them within
the Three Arms Zone will guarantee their security since the place is
highly secured and the other arms of the government are also cited
there,” she said.
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