Trouble for N’Assembly contractor as Akpabio vows legal action

By Tolulope Oke

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has threatened legal action against the contractor responsible for renovating the National Assembly complex following persistent technical failures in the refurbished chambers.

Akpabio issued the warning during Wednesday’s plenary after senators repeatedly struggled with malfunctioning microphones.

The development comes despite the billions of naira reportedly spent on renovating the complex.

Since lawmakers returned to the refurbished chambers in April 2024, they have battled defective microphones, poor audio quality and a non-functional electronic voting system.

The failures forced the Senate and House of Representatives to abandon electronic voting and adopt manual procedures while considering crucial constitutional amendment bills, including the proposal for state police.

Akpabio said he and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas were “thoroughly embarrassed” by the facilities during Tuesday’s opening of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week.

“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 at the opening of their National Assembly Week, and in the course of it, myself and the Speaker were thoroughly embarrassed.”

The Senate President noted that the contractor responsible for renovating the House chamber also handled the Senate’s refurbishment.

“The same contractor that handled the renovation of the House of Representatives handled this one,” he said.

“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 disclosed that the Senate leadership was documenting the recurring technical problems ahead of possible legal 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,” he added.

“We are all witnessing what is going on now.”

The contractor responsible for the renovation was not identified in the report and had yet to respond publicly to Akpabio’s warning.