Power outage delays Senate plenary caused by public power and faulty generator disruptions

There was a power outage in the Senate wing of the National Assembly Complex for several hours on Tuesday forcing the lawmakers to commence the plenary about two hours behind schedule.

The session, statutorily scheduled for 10 a.m. did not start until about 12 p.m. shortly after power was restored and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, arrived in the chamber.

While the outage lasted, there was heat in the chamber making many of the senators, who had arrived early for the day’s business, feel uncomfortable.

Rule 8 sub-section (2) of the Senate Standing Rule (as amended) mandated that plenary should commence by 10 a.m. on every legislative day.

Mr Akpabio later explained that the outage made him arrive late for the plenary. He then apologized to the lawmakers for the inconvenience they experienced while it lasted.

He said apart from the Senate chamber, about nine offices within the complex were also affected by the outage.

“The light, they are still working on it. It went off since morning. It is even affecting some of the offices on the fourth floor.

“We have about nine offices that they have not been able to rectify but they are working on it. They have assured us that before 1 ‘o’clock the light will be okay.

“However, I have noticed even, the press, some of them are fanning themselves. At least they feel the heat also. If it gets too hot then we may have to adjourn for a while to allow them to conclude but they are working on it. I apologise for any inconvenience” Mr Akpabio said.

Chairman of the Committee on Senate Services, Sunday Karimi, said the power outage was caused by a fault in the generator.

Mr Karimi, the senator representing Kogi representing Kogi West on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), said the fault was subsequently rectified.

“It is an uncommon incident. Since the 10th Assembly, we have not heard this kind of experience. Often when we are sitting, we use the generator. Unfortunately today, our generator developed a fault. It has nothing to do with the fuel issue. So, it was time to switch to the second generator used by the House of Representatives.

“You will also observe that within 10 to 15 minutes of switching, our generator was restored.

“I am aware of the fact that our generator is back and all the facilities that are powered by the generator have been restored” Mr Karimi added.

The Senate and House of Representatives chambers have been under renovation in the last two years.