Akpabio Threatens Legal Action Over Faulty Senate Microphones

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday threatened to sue the contractor who renovated the National Assembly’s chambers. This came after several microphones in the Senate chamber failed to work properly during a session.

Mr Akpabio expressed his frustration during plenary after the microphones caused echoes in the chamber. He said this technical problem had embarrassed him and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, during the opening of the National Assembly Week on Tuesday.

“Distinguished colleagues, I hope you are taking note of the fact that our microphones are not working well, because we are going to take action.
“I was at the House of Representatives yesterday to represent you at the opening of their National Assembly Week, and in the course of it, myself and the speaker were thoroughly embarrassed. The same contractor that handled the renovation of the House of Representatives handled this one as well.

“If this continues, we have steps we can take, legally, to ensure that a good job is done because this is an embarrassment to our nation,” Mr Akpabio said.

He urged lawmakers to pay attention to the ongoing issues. He noted that their observations would help justify any action taken against the contractor.

“I hope you are taking note of it, so that when they go to social media to start complaining after we have taken action, you will know why we took the action. We are all witnessing what is going on now,” he stated.

This is not the first time lawmakers have complained about the renovation quality since returning to the permanent chambers in 2024.

On 7 May 2024, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South) criticized the renovation, saying the chamber was poorly refurbished despite the billions spent.

The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is responsible for maintaining the National Assembly complex. The renovation took about two years, forcing lawmakers to hold sessions in temporary chambers within the complex.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the federal government gave Visible Construction Limited the contract for the rehabilitation of the National Assembly complex for N42 billion.

This is despite former President Muhammadu Buhari approving N37 billion for the renovation of the National Assembly complex in 2019.