Posted by By JAMES OJO, Abuja on
The House of Representatives is to meet with President Umar Yar'Adua on how to find lasting solution to the perennial face-off with labour over fuel prices and other matters that led to last week's nationwide strike.
The House of Representatives is to meet with President Umar Yar'Adua on how to find lasting solution to the perennial face-off with labour over fuel prices and other matters that led to last week's nationwide strike.
Spokesman of the House, Hon. Ita Solomon James Enang told newsmen on Monday that the intervention of the House became necessary since Labour only suspended the strike and not a total call off.
Enang said that a motion to that effect would be moved on the floor to enable members make contributions, in other to check frequent face-off that always left the masses suffering.
According to him, the three month old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] would also receive the attention of the House, as a follow up to the singular efforts of Madam Speaker, Hon Patricia Etteh, who had met with representatives of the union.
He said the reports of the Ad-hoc committee on Welfare and Review of the Rules of the House was ready and would be laid for members to either accept, reject or amend it.
Enang explained that the adoption of the reports on the Review committee would form the basis for the Selection Committee, headed by the Speaker herself to fill the chairmanship and membership slots.
Unlike what obtained before, minority parties would have to fuse together to pick their leaders, instead of each party having officers, which he said was the major amendment made in the rules of the House by his committee.
He said that all the restructuring to make members settle down for business had been concluded by the ad-hoc committees, adding that the office and accommodation problems had been tackled.
Meanwhile, Speaker Etteh has again reassured the people of the Niger Delta region of the readiness of the present administration to address the problems of the area.
She gave the assurance while welcoming the Governors of Delta and Rivers states, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Sir Celestine Omehia to her office.
The governors were in Abuja to felicitate with the Speaker over her selection as the first female speaker in the country.
Mrs Etteh said that the mere fact that both executive and the legislative were talking on how to resolve the Niger Delta crises should be a pointer that government was not playing lip services to the cries of the people.