Lawmakers raise concerns over heat and the non-functionality of electronic gadgets in the renovated chamber of the House of Representatives
After two years of construction work and an expediture of N42 billion on the renovation of the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, lawmakers in the House were forced to conduct plenary session on Tuesday under heat as the airconditioning system did not work.
The representatives also raised concerns over their inability to make use of the new facilities due to a lack of knowledge on the usage as they also alluded to the non-functionality of most of the electronic gadgets in the renovated chamber.
Rep. Dominic Okafor (Anambra, APGA) moved a motion on personal explanation saying most lawmakers are having difficulties using the facilities in the renovated chamber.
“Mr Speaker you will agree with me that most of us are new and not conversant with the usage of the facilities in this chamber. Mr. Speaker, I will appreciate it if we can be guided on the usage of this edifice.”
In his response, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Tanjudeen Abbas ruled in favour of the motion, saying the chamber was still undergoing some innovation work.
“We will fix a day to educate lawmakers on the proper use of the facilities in this chamber as you can see work is still ongoing.”
OrderPaper observed that the air conditioning system in the chamber was not functioning well as a fan was placed close to where the Speaker sat to reduce the heat he was feeling.
Meanwhile, that was not the case for the other lawmakers as not many fans were not provided for their comfort. Seemingly, journalists and other guests in the chamber were seen fanning themselves to ameliorate the heat.
In a related development, lawmakers were in thrown into darkness as the light went off for more than 3 minutes during the plenary session.
Recall that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and principal officers of the House inspected the renovated chamber a few days before resumption where they expressed satisfaction with work done.
