Senate President Godswill Akpabio has threatened legal action against the contractor that renovated the national assembly complex over persistent technical faults affecting both chambers.
Akpabio spoke on Wednesday after senators repeatedly struggled with malfunctioning microphones during plenary.
Meanwhile, despite the billions of naira spent on renovating the national assembly complex, lawmakers have continued to grapple with malfunctioning microphones, poor audio quality and an inoperative electronic voting system since returning to the refurbished chambers in April 2024.
The persistent technical failures forced both the senate and the house of representatives to abandon electronic voting for manual procedures during deliberations on key constitutional amendment bills, including the state police proposal.
Akpabio said he was embarrassed by the state of the facilities during the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week at the house of representatives 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,” Akpabio said.
“I was at the house of representatives yesterday to represent you on 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.
“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.”
Akpabio said the senate leadership was documenting the recurring technical failures ahead of any action 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 actions. We are all witnessing what is going on now,” he added.
