After more than eight weeks of recess, the Senate on Tuesday resumed session with just 28 out of the 109 senators attending plenary session. This represented less than the one-third required for sitting based on its Standing Rules.

The development clearly showed that legislators of the upper chamber of the National Assembly were yet to recover from the hiccup of holidays in the face of urgent national issues pending and begging for their attention.

It was, however, gathered that majority of the senators deliberately kept off the plenary to watch development in the Senate particularly as it affects the pending reshuffling of Standing Committees which is likely to affect some of them.
Daily Sun noted that several minutes after Senate President David Mark read the usual opening prayers at about 10.30 a.m., only about 20 senators were seated while the others that managed to attend the session were seen sauntering into the chamber as if nothing was at stake.

Some of the early arrivals into the Senate chambers include Senators Ayogu Eze, Anthony Manzo, Nuhu Aliyu, Bode Olajumoke, Zainab Kure, Uche Chukwumerije, Anyim Ude, Ganiyu Solomon, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Emeh Uffot-Ekaette in addition to some members of the body of principal officers namely; the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senate Majority leader, Teslim Folarin and his Deputy, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.

In spite of the poor turn out of the senators, the leadership of the Senate was not deterred from proceeding with the items on the Order Paper of the day as it quickly directed the Committee on Finance, chaired by former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, to screen the nominees of President Umaru Yar’Adua for appointment as chairman and members of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission recently sent to it for confirmation.

This was just as the Senate president went ahead to read an address of welcome to the hearing of the few senators in attendance charging them to brace up for the task ahead particularly the consideration of the reports of the probe panels that were submitted before the Senate went on recess.
Senator Mark noted that prominent among the probes was the Senator Abubakar Sodangi-led committee that took a critical look into the activities of past Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) between 1999 and 2007, the N19.5 billion Aviation Intervention Fund, the Agric Sector probe report, the Transport probe and the abysmal performance of the Super Eagles in the 2008 African Cup of nations that took place in Ghana early this year .

The Senate president assured that none of the report of the probes panel will be swept under the carpet. He thus urged the Standing Committees of the Senate to expedite action on pending bills before them,
According to Senator Mark: “On this note, I urge all committees chairmen to ensure that bills which were referred to their committees for necessary legislative action are returned within the shortest possible time. Already, the body of Principal Officers has requested the Rules and Business Committee to come up with the comprehensive table showing the distribution of such pending bills.
I appeal to all committee chairman to expedite action on this so that we can collectively live up to the expectation of our people.”

Meanwhile, the Senate has directed its Finance Committee two weeks within which to screen and submit the list of the President Yar’Adua’s nominees for the position of Chairman and members of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
The nominees for the Senate screening include Aliyu Yelwa, Chairman (North West), Debo Adesina, Editor The Guardian Newspaper (Civil Society), Suleiman Abubakar (organized Private Sector), Mohammed Sada (Organized Private Sector), Yau Gimba (North East ) and Sylvanus Mordi (South South) Adewunmi Abitoye (South West), Shuaibu Abdullahi Kore (North Central), Benson Upah (Organized Labour) and Chris Okewulonu (South East).