At the second Hall Assembly for the current tenure, it was raining new Honourables and huge budgets.
The meeting which lasted for almost nine hours took place on the 26th August 2023 at the FCR and was slated to start at 9pm, however the proceedings of the meeting began at 9:10pm. The minutes of the previous meeting was read by the clerk, Honourable Duru Vivian and it was time to address the agendas of the meeting.
The meeting saw a total of seven new Honourables co-opted in to the Hall Assembly with each receiving a copy of the Hall’s Constitution and a seat among the older Honourables. Although it was their first day, the newly co-opted Honourables wasted no time contributing to the activities of the Assembly by tendering their observations and suggestions. Honourable Mbajiorgu Chidiomimi of the C ground constituency, Honourable Anayo Micheal of the E ground constituency and Honourable Olayiwola of the MBBS constituency hit the ground running on the Hall Assembly floor. Other Honourables newly co-opted were Honourable Agboola Tomisin of the B3 constituency, Honourable Fagbenro Mustapha of the G ground left constituency, Honourable Jimoh of the NiMELSA constituency, and Honourable Oyelalu Mercy of the D3 constituency.
The Inventory Committee represented by Honourable Ndubueze Chukwuka, tendered a report on the various Executive Committees present. Several loopholes were noticed in the committee’s report and a motion was moved for the Committee to reconvene and present their report polished and accurate.
Following a twenty-five minute break at 12:25am, it was time for various Executive Committees to begin their budget presentation. The Social and Buttery Minister, Mr. Fort Israel was the first to mount the podium followed by the Defence Minister, Mr. Omoniyi Nicholas. Their budgets were both largely viewed as impossible by members of the Assembly. The budget of the Social and Buttery Minister (SBM) towards this year’s ABH fresher’s welcome was regarded as a huge leap from the previous tenure and the budget of the Defence Minister was referred to as “outrageous”. The SBM had tendered a budget of #97,000 twice the amount budgeted by the previous tenure. The Defence Minister had tendered an amount of #530,000. Both Ministers attempted to defend the reasoning behind their seemingly big budgets. The former Defence Minister and a worthy observer at the meeting, Mr. Igwilo Joshua also attempted to defend his successor’s stance. It was moved that both budgets be reviewed and their corrected versions sent in as soon as possible.
However, Brownites can be assured of the continued pleasure of watching their favourite football matches or Big Brother Naija show at the TV room no matter how the budget is revised. A motion to reduce the amount allocated for the purchase of petrol was moved by Honourable Adenuga, however, Mr. Okunlola suggested that the Honourable’s motion be only accepted if the Assembly would be committed to paying a certain stated amount monthly. The Hall Assembly also committed to reinforcing the concrete floor of the ABH gym.
By 5:56 am, Honourable Mbajiorgu moved for the meeting to be adjourned and the protracted meeting finally came to an end, the longest in recent times. It was apparent at the meeting that the new tenure will have to navigate through a fog of uncertainties, especially the ones that usually plague the start of a new administration. One can hope that compromise and efficiency will be foremost in this tenure, so the business of the Hall can be done as it should be done.
