•Buildings, Vehicles, Workers Lose Insurance Cover
By Henry Umoru
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Strong indications have emerged that the National Assembly is presently in N2 billion Premium Insurance debt, just as it lost insurance cover for its entire buildings, vehicles and staff.
The sum of N73 billion has been invested in the affected National Assembly buildings since 1999.
According to a source, apart from the buildings, all public servants in the National Assembly, as well as other insurable assets like motor vehicles, machinery, and equipment are also affected.
It will be recalled that the first phase of the National Assembly was built in 1998 at a cost of nearly $35.18)million (N12.7 billion) and in 2007, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the award of the Construction of the National Assembly Complex Phase 3, part 2 at the cost of N22,980,679,935.00.
In the 2020 budget, the sum of N37 billion was appropriated for the renovation of the ‘White House’ part of the building that accommodates the chambers of both Senate and the House of Representatives.
According to a document obtained from the National Assembly, the details of the total insurance premium liability of the National Assembly till date is as follows:
Senate Vehicles N716,660,142.60
House of Reps Vehicles N430,357 ,518.63
Management Vehicles N170,964,052.50
Group Life Insurance Scheme (Staff) N736,356,157. 10
Total: N2,054,337,870.83
“Technically, this entails that we no longer have insurance cover based on the policy of “no premium, no cover.”
It was also gathered that the matter was raised with the principal officers of the National Assembly, yet it was not addressed.
Meanwhile, the document which drew the attention of the principal officers to the development, however, revealed how the failure to provide for the insurance in past budgets exposed the National Assembly to serious danger and public ridicule.
Culled from Vanguard
