Why National Assembly roof is still leaking — Contractor

The construction firm handling the renovation of the National Assembly, Visible Construction Limited, says the roof of the complex is still leaking because repair works was ongoing.

In June 2021, the lobby of the National Assembly was flooded due to the leaky roof of the White House, which houses the two chambers.

The incident, described by some critics as “national embarrassment”, triggered public outrage.

Lawmakers in the 9th National Assembly had said the incident confirmed their position that the building was due for renovation.

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As a result of the deterioration of the complex over the years, the 9th National Assembly appropriated N30 billion to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) in 2021 fiscal year for comprehensive renovation.

Visible Construction Limited, which won the contract, commenced work in April 2022.

But one year after, the roof of the National Assembly’s White House is still leaking, raising concerns among staff and users over the condition of the edifice despite the billions being expended on the renovation.

The Project Engineer, Tajudeen Olanipekun, told reporters on Wednesday that the roof leakage would soon stop as specialised chemicals for the affected expansion joints would soon be applied.

He said all the roofs of the complex both at the White House and adjourning structures had been thoroughly checked for discovery of expansion joints requiring water tight chemicals that will prevent any leakage.

He said, “The report on roof leakage in National Assembly to us at Visible Construction is like marking script of a student still writing his or her examination.

“Renovation work on the entire complex is still being carried out. It is when we have finished the work that report on roof leakage can be written which to us would never happen as the problem would be thing of the past by the time it is handed over to FCDA that gave us the job.

“There should be no cause for alarm from any quarters as regards the project since Engineers from FCDA are also with us.”