Senate suspends public hearing, shuts down gallery over COVID-19

The Senate on Friday suspended public hearing following the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country.

The upper legislative also announced a partial closure of its public gallery and barred students and other persons from undertaking excursions to the National Assembly Complex till when the Coronavirus that had infected persons in the country subsides.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who disclosed this to journalists after a closed-door session of the senators, said the suspension of public hearing takes effect from next Tuesday.

The session lasted two hours and the senators discussed the effect of Coronavirus on the country.

The Senate had on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on the pandemic that had killed about 9, 000 people in more than 60 countries across the globe.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: WAEC postpones SSCE indefinitely

The Federal Government had also cut the country’s 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion following the crash in crude oil prices in the international market over Coronavirus.

However, the government had reduced the pump price of petrol from N145 to N125 per litre and introduced other palliatives to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on Nigerians.

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