The House of Representatives adjourned plenary Tuesday minutes after it resumed from its 2020 Christmas and New year holidays, to honour a fallen member, Hon. Ossy Prestige whose death occurred on Sunday, February 7, 2021.
Until his demise, Prestige represented Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House.
He was said to have been sick since the summer of 2020 and was flown to London for treatment.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila while announcing the development to the House expressed shock and regrets.
He said that though there were many announcements including a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari informing the House about the appointment of the new Service Chiefs, the parliament would still not be sitting.
The Speaker, however, gave hints of new COVID-19 safety measures to be announced on Wednesday.
He described Prestige as a friend and active member of the 8th and 9th House.
Gbajabiamila also gave brief details of his journey to London to visit the late lawmaker in a hospital.
The Speaker said that at the appropriate time, the House would pay formal tributes and accord him the last respect.
He said: “You are well back from the recess. It’s good to see you back. We will be announcing tomorrow new Covid-19 protocols just to keep us safe. We need to take the necessary action.
“On a very sad note. We will not be doing any business today. I have some announcements including a letter from Mr President on the new Service Chiefs. I am pushing all that for tomorrow.
“I want to announce the death of our colleague, Hon. Ossy Prestige.
“He’s been sick for a while since the summer of last year. I saw him in October of last year. We chatted and I announced to members to continue to pray for him. I think the minority leader also went to see him. Shortly, we lost communications until the family notified me a couple of days ago of his passage.
“When I went to see him in a UK hospital, he narrated to me how he travelled.
“He was a member of a powerful bloc in 8th assembly. He was a great guy.
“He shared something with me before he travelled to London. He kept telling me he had a dream and I will share that dream with you in good time.
“Our prayer is that God will comfort his family and also accept his soul. We will do a formal valedictory at the right time. We will do a minute silence for now.”
With the comments, the Speaker called the Majority Leader, Ado Doguwa to move the motion for adjournment.
Seconded by the minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu, the House observed one-minute silence and adjourned plenary to Wednesday.
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