The senate on Wednesday, reportedly convened an emergency sitting to consider President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2024 supplementary appropriation for the fiscal year.
According to Daily Trust, the coast of the proposed new presidential jet will included in the budget.
The senate is convening for the emergency sitting as federal lawmakers began their recess last week and were to resume plenary on July 2.
Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, disclosed on Wednesday, that the upper chamber would hold plenary on Thursday, to address a variety of issues, including appropriation.
“It’s our statutory resumption from the Sallah break. Senate has the constitutional power to regulate its sessions and we believe that we could gain one more legislative day to deal with national and constitutional issues, hence the bringing forward from the initial July 2,” he said.
“We hope to deal with issues concerning our further oversight on the appropriations and clear further the hanging issues of constitutional and electoral concerns. And clear outstanding bills and motions, expectedly before our annual recess, later in the year.”
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, denied report that he had approved the purchase of new presidential jets.
He described as malicious a report quoting him to have said the national assembly would approve the purchase of new aircraft for president Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, despite the harsh economic situation in the country.
The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence had recommended the purchase of new aircraft for Tinubu and Shettima, arguing that the existing presidential jets are faulty and unsafe for use.
The federal government has since reportedly contracted a foreign company to help sell some of the planes in the presidential fleet.
