BEVERLY HILLS, July 21, (THEWILL) –Â The Senate entered an emergency closed session on Tuesday to discuss the outcome of the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the presiding officers of the National Assembly last Thursday.
The closed session started immediately the red chamber resumed plenary on Tuesday.
The Minority Leader of the Upper Chamber, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, had previously revealed that the Senate would take an official position on the decision by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, to flout its decision on the recruitment of 774, 000 federal workers.
He said the senators were expecting the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to brief them on the outcome of Thursday’s meeting between the presiding officers of the National Assembly and the President on the issue.
This was after lawmakers suspended the Public Works Programme following a disagreement between its committee on Labour and Kayamo.
The lawmakers accused Keyamo of hijacking the recruitment exercise from the National Directorate of Employment, which got N52bn approval to carry out the programme.
Instead of respecting the verdict of the legislators, Keyamo told journalists on Tuesday that Buhari had asked him to proceed with the recruitment process notwithstanding the position of the National Assembly on the issue.
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The development forced the Senate to hold an emergency closed-door session on Wednesday and mandated presiding officers of both chambers of the nation’s parliament to immediately meet with Buhari on the proposed recruitment of 774, 000 federal workers.
