The commencement of plenary in the Senate chamber was delayed on Tuesday after a power outage in the National Assembly which ensured that lawmakers waited for about an hour before power was restored.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the power cut by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) occurred moments before the commencement of plenary session, leaving the Red Chamber in partial blackout.
Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, waited for the return of power in the poorly lighted plenary chamber.
After some time, the lights came back on, and Akpabio opened the plenary session.
Akpabio recognised the discomfort in the chamber and expressed regret for the trouble the outage had caused.
He went on to say that the blackout had impacted about nine workplaces and assured everyone that steps were being taken to make things right.
Akpabio apologised to his colleagues for the power outage and assured that the problem was being addressed.
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“The engineers are still working on the lights. It went off since morning, it’s even affecting some offices in the fourth floor.
“We have about nine offices that still don’t have light at present, but they are working on it.
“I noticed even members of the press are fanning themselves, at least they feel the heat too. If it gets too hot, then we may have to adjourn for a while, but they are working on it. I apologise for any inconvenience,” Akpabio said.
Commenting on the situation, Sen. Sunday Karimi (APC-Kogi) described the situation as uncommon.
“Since the commencement of the 10th Assembly, we’ve not had this kind of experience. Oftentimes when we are sitting, we make use of the power generation set, unfortunately today, our generating set developed a fault,” he said.
However, the power incident brings to mind the previous warning issued by the Abuja Electricity Distribution PLC in February.
At that time, the company threatened to disconnect the electricity supply of 86 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) due to an outstanding debt totaling N47.1bn.
Among the affected MDAs were prominent entities such as the Ministry of Finance, Information, Budget, Works and Housing, various barracks, the Nigeria Police Force, the Presidential Villa, the CBN Governor’s office, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and several state liaison offices in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
While the temporary darkness cast a shadow over the Senate proceedings, it serves as a reminder of the ongoing challenges faced by the AEDC and the need for sustainable solutions to ensure uninterrupted power supply for all.