Calm returned to the National Assembly, Wednesday, as President Muhammadu Buhari presents the 2019 Appropriation Bill to a joint sitting of the two chambers Wednesday.
Striking workers at the complex, who had hitherto locked down the place over unpaid salaries, simply disappeared as it became clear that the president would present the 2019 Appropriation Bill before the assembly.
The complex had been ‘swept clean’ by men of the Nigeria Police and operatives of the Department of State Services, hours before the presidential entourage arrived for the presentation slated for 11 a.m.
The two departments were supported by the Presidential Guards Brigade, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, among others. There were multiple security checks at every gate at the complex. And businesses remained closed.
Earlier in the day, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Mohammed Sani-Omolori, had arrived the Green (House of Representatives) Chamber to rehearse with the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, who was expected to guide President Buhari on his movement and presentation in the chamber.
Workers at the National Assembly, under the auspices of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, had crippled business and legislative activities as part of their four-day warning strike. They were not on sight.
The workers, who barricaded the entrances to the National Assembly on Monday, and had earlier picketed the chambers, were still at the main entrance to the premises as of 8a.m., had resolved to stay away from the premises pending the time the budget presentation would last.
