Senate adjourns for a week due to low attendance, Reps adjourn over faulty mics

The Nigerian Senate has adjourned plenary for a week as it failed to attract the number of lawmakers required to form a quorum on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

Senator Philip Aduda (FCT-APC) raised an observation to the lawmakers present on Tuesday that the chamber did not have the required number of Senators to go ahead with a legislative session.

He noted that the scanty attendance was due to the fact that many lawmakers were busy with their oversight functions across the country.

He said, "We are less than 10, Mr President. I want to move that since we have not (formed) quorum, we may therefore adjourn but in doing so I want to say that the Senate is empty because various committees are carrying out oversight duties, they are all over the country, ensuring that the budget is performing."

Senator Aduda's motion for adjournment was seconded by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. However, Ekweremadu noted that the lawmakers present were "somewhere between 15 and 20" and not less than 10 as noted by Aduda.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, urged lawmakers on oversight duties to complete their engagements by the end of the week.

"Some of the findings from the oversight are important and it is important that the exercise is done diligently and we should ensure that it is completed by the end of this week. That is in line with order 10 (3)," he said.

The session was thereafter adjourned till November 20.

Reps adjourn due to faulty sound system

While the Senate adjourned due to low attendance, the House of Representatives adjourned due to a different problem.

When the lower legislative chamber of the National Assembly convened on Tuesday, faulty sound system in the chamber forced an adjournment.

Lawmakers had to pass around a cordless microphone to make contributions on Tuesday in a session that lasted for about an hour.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara ece-auto-gen

According to House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, the adjournment was necessary to create time for the sound system in the chamber to be fixed.

The same problem had forced an adjournment during plenary on Wednesday, November 7. Dogara had 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.

He revealed that the House will adjourn sitting indefinitely if the problem persists on Wednesday, November 14, when lawmakers are due to return to the chamber.