The Leadership of The 14th Legislative Assembly

By Victoria Adeusi

On the 5th of June, 2024, the NPHR held its first sitting in the semester which began with an opening prayer by Honourable Peter of the 200l constituency at exactly 11:16 a.m. The sitting, which was supposed to proceed with the clerk's reading of the last minutes, couldn't proceed due to the clerk of the house’s absence. According to Honourable Caleb, the former DSP, the clerk reached out to him and gave reasons for her absence. Customarily, the clerk sends the minutes of the previous seating, regardless of their absence at the next sitting. However, the clerk, Honourable Odunayo failed to send the necessary documents for the next sitting.

To avoid dwelling on the clerk’s negligence, Honourable Atiku proposed that the sitting continue while they await the minutes from the clerk. However, this method proved ineffective as the clerk did not send the minutes of the last sitting till the end of the sitting. Two agendas were to be discussed in the sitting, one was the report of the audit committee with the other being the dissolution of the 13th legislative assembly and the inauguration of the 14th.

Miss Kalu Success, a member of the audit committee, represented the Chairman of the Committee, Miss Ebunoluwa, to present the report. Miss Success presented the report after which the house honourables raised their observations and voiced their dissatisfactions. After intense questioning from the house and explanations from Miss Success, the report was not approved due to the glitches in the account records. House members noted that the money expected to be left in the association account was lower than the amount stated in the report. The House speaker also mentioned the omission of some purchased items in the report. Due to these imbalances, the house requested that the audit committee redo their report and audit the clerk because her office was left out of those audited.

After the audit committee’s report was taken, the 13th legislative assembly was dissolved and members of the 14th legislative assembly were inaugurated. The inauguration of the new legislative members was handled by the Vice president of the Department, Mr. Akinwande Samuel. Afterward, the house elected the principal officers - the Chief Whip, Clerk, Deputy Speaker, and Speaker.

Honourable Sandra of the 200l constituency vied for the post of Chief whip, winning with 8 members of the house voting in her favour.

Honourable Atiku from the 200l constituency vied for the post of Deputy Speaker, winning with six out of seven total votes.

Hon Dolapo vied for the Speaker’s office and the present seven house members unanimously voted in her favour. The clerk’s office remains vacant as no honourable showed interest in filling the office.

The three new principal officers of the house were congratulated and implored by Honourable Caleb, the former Deputy Speaker of the house, to perform their duties effectively.

The Speaker, Honourable Dolapo, from the 400l constituency, proceeded to preside over the house and she adjourned the sitting.