I’ll sue contractor over faulty NASS microphones, Akpabio warns

…Situation embarrassing Nigeria, says Senate President

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA — President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has threatened legal action against the contractor responsible for the renovation of the National Assembly complex over persistent technical faults affecting facilities in both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers.

Akpabio, who spoke during plenary on Wednesday, expressed displeasure over repeated microphone failures in the Senate chamber, describing the situation as an embarrassment to the country.

The Senate President 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.

“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,” Akpabio said.

He noted that the same contractor handled the renovation of both chambers, warning that the Senate would take legal steps if the faults persisted.

“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,” he said.

Akpabio disclosed that the Senate leadership was documenting the recurring technical failures as part of preparations for possible 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.

The development comes despite the billions of naira reportedly spent on the renovation of the National Assembly complex, as lawmakers have continued to experience microphone failures, poor audio quality and malfunctioning electronic voting systems since returning to the refurbished chambers in April 2024.

The technical challenges also affected proceedings during the constitutional amendment process, particularly during voting on the State Police Bill, when the Senate had to resort to manual voting after persistent electronic voting system failures.

The recurring faults have continued to raise concerns among governance observers over transparency, efficiency and compliance with legislative procedures.

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