Inadequate funds stall completion of legislative institute – Ekweremadu

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said on Monday that paucity of funds was delaying the completion of the permanent site of the National Institute for Legislative Studies.
Ekweremadu, who is the Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute, which is the training arm of the National Assembly, stated this while inspecting the extent of work at the N52bn sprawling facility at the Airport Road in Abuja.
The Deputy Senate President said only N16bn out of the project sum, has been released till date.
He said, “This is going to be comprehensive and it is going to serve not only the National Assembly but all the parliaments in Nigeria and beyond.
“We hope the whole of Africa would find what we are doing here useful. When completed, the project will take about N52bn and from the record given to me now, we have spent about N16bn.
“We spend a lot money sending people abroad on legislative studies and believe that over time, we shall be doing those training here. By the time this project is completed, we would have no basis for training people abroad and taking out our hard-earned resources.”Ekweremadu added that the institute, upon completion, will be the hub of parliamentary training in the country.
He said, “My vision is that in the next five years, this institute will be self-sustaining because it will also make money to enable it sustain itself and build its capacity.”
Director General of NILS, Dr. Dadi Hamalai, also lamented the paucity of funds which has delayed completion of the permanent site.
She said, “We are supposed to have completed this project by the end of April but due to paucity of funds, it will be delayed. We are hoping that as we are getting funds, we should be able to complete it in a few months”