The Benue State House of Assembly has adopted the amended Calendar of Business for the Third Legislative Session of the 10th Assembly, covering the 2025 to 2026 legislative year.
The decision was reached during Tuesday’s plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aondoaver Berger Alfred Emberga.
Presenting the motion, the Majority Leader, Hon. Pharm. Sir Thomas Dugeri, explained that Section 104 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, requires state assemblies to sit for not fewer than 181 days in a legislative year.
He further pointed out that Section 101 empowers the House to regulate its procedures, including the scheduling of sittings and recess.
He emphasised that the calendar provides members with a clear schedule of activities for the year.
The new timetable sets out 187 sitting days for the session, spread across three sittings and recess periods between July 2025 and June 2026.
The motion was seconded by the Minority Leader, Hon. Abu Umoru, who observed that the amendment would ensure greater efficiency and accuracy in the operations of the Assembly.
The House also received the report of the Committee on Higher Education on a petition over alleged encroachment on the land belonging to Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu by Mission House International.
Another report was presented by the Committee on Food Security and Nutrition on its oversight visit to the Department of Livestock Services at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Makurdi.
Both reports, presented by the Majority Leader, were referred to the Committees on Education and Agriculture respectively for further legislative action.
In another development, a motion moved by Hon. Onah Blessed Emmanuel of Oju I Constituency on the reward of academic excellence was adopted.
The House resolved that the Benue State Examinations Board, in collaboration with WAEC, NECO and tertiary institutions in the state, should publish the names of the best graduating students annually, to enable the Assembly to recognise and reward outstanding performances.
Also during the plenary, a bill for a law to provide for the creation and adoption of a Benue State symbol and anthem scaled second reading. The bill, read by the clerk of the House, Dr. Bem Melody, seeks to establish a unique identity and symbol of pride for the people of the state.
