The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, has said the Senate will take official position on the decision of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), to flout its decision on the recruitment of 774,000 federal workers.
According to him, the senators were expecting the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to brief them on the outcome of the meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue.
He added, “The Senate will take an official position on the issue next Tuesday after listening to the outcome of the meeting between the presiding officers and the President over the matter.
“We asked our presiding officers to meet with President Buhari on the issue and we have not had plenary since they returned. The Senate President will brief us on Tuesday at plenary and we will make a decision on it.”
The National Assembly had suspended the Public Works Programme, following a disagreement between its Committee on Labour and Keyamo.
Keyamo was accused of hijacking the recruitment exercise from the National Directorate of Employment, which got ₦52bn approval to carry out the programme.
But Keyamo, on Tuesday, told journalists, that Buhari had asked him to proceed with the exercise, regardless of the position of the National Assembly on the matter.
This development triggered the Senate to hold an emergency closed-door session on Wednesday and mandated presiding officers of both chambers to immediately meet with Buhari on the proposed recruitment of 774,000 federal workers.
Attempts by the West African Pilot News to speak with the Senate’s spokesperson on the issue on Friday were futile as he did not answer calls to his mobile phone or reply to a text message sent to him.
Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, refused to respond to an inquiry by the Punch on Friday.
