Faulty microphones force Reps to adjourn for third time in one week

The House of Representatives has been forced to adjourn plenary due to faulty microphones for the third time in just one week.

The lower legislative chamber of the National Assembly first adjourned plenary on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, due to the chamber's faulty sound system. House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, disclosed that the system was malfunctioning as a result of power which had affected the panels of some of the microphones.

He disclosed that the microphones were installed in 1999, and that the panels to replace the malfunctioning ones would take three weeks to arrive Nigeria from Germany.

The chamber was forced to adjourn plenary for a second time on Tuesday, November 13, as lawmakers had to pass around a cordless microphone to make contributions in a session that lasted for about an hour.

The problem persisted when lawmakers resumed on Wednesday, November 14, as Dogara lamented that the defective sound system had not been fixed.

"Unfortunately up till now we have been unable to fix the problem because we are not masters of this technology here.

"I have been told that the microphones on the rows on my right are not working. Only rows seven to 11 are working. Rows one to six are not functioning.

"The system was fixed in 1999 and this technology has a lock and anything that happens to it, we have to reach out to the manufacturers," he said.

Despite the adjournment, the House took items on the order paper that did not require debate.