Power Outage Stalls Plenary In Senate

Power outage in the National Assembly delayed the commencement of plenary in the Senate chamber as the lawmakers waited for about an hour before power was restored.

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.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, waited in the dimly lit plenary room for the restoration of power.

The lights eventually flickered back to life, prompting Akpabio to commence the plenary session.

Expressing regret over the inconvenience caused by the outage, Akpabio acknowledged the discomfort in the chamber.

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He further revealed that the blackout had affected approximately nine offices, assuring everyone that efforts were underway to rectify the situation.

Akpabio apologised to his colleagues for the power outage and assured that the problem was being addressed.

“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.

(NAN).