Senate President Godswill Akpabio has threatened to drag the contractor that handled the renovation of the National Assembly complex to court over persistent faults in the public address system of both chambers.

The warning came during plenary after senators again struggled with malfunctioning microphones while making contributions on the floor. The glitches repeatedly interrupted proceedings, forcing lawmakers to raise their voices and switch seats in search of working consoles.

Visibly irritated, Akpabio told his colleagues that the situation had gone beyond a minor technical hitch and now amounted to a national embarrassment. He said the contractor, who handled the refurbishment of both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, had failed to deliver a system befitting the country’s highest lawmaking body.

“Distinguished colleagues, I hope you are taking note of the fact that our microphones are not working well. You are taking note of it because I intend to take action,” he said, stressing that the repeated failures would form part of the record if the National Assembly proceeds against the contractor.

Akpabio recounted that the problem was not limited to the Senate. He said he had been “thoroughly embarrassed” the previous day while representing the upper chamber at the opening of the National Assembly Week in the House of Representatives, where similar faults disrupted the event.

“I was in the House of Representatives yesterday to represent you at the opening of the National Assembly Week and, in the course of it, the Speaker and I were thoroughly embarrassed. The same contractor that handled the renovation of the House of Representatives handled this one,” he told senators.

The Senate President warned that the legislature would not hesitate to invoke legal remedies if the contractor failed to urgently fix the defects and meet contractual standards. According to him, the integrity of parliamentary proceedings and the image of the institution are at stake.

“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, urging lawmakers to document every incident. “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 action. You are all witnessing what is going on now.”