FOR nearly two years, from April 2022 to April 2024, federal lawmakers vacated their chambers and conducted plenary sessions from committee hearing rooms while the National Assembly Complex underwent an extensive and costly renovation aimed at modernising Nigeria’s legislature.
News Point Nigeria reports that although senators and members of the House of Representatives were expected to return to a significantly improved legislative complex after the completion of the multi-billion-naira rehabilitation project, the outcome has fallen far short of expectations, with key facilities—including microphones and electronic voting systems—either malfunctioning or completely inoperative.
The renovation of the National Assembly Complex dates back to 2019, when former President Muhammadu Buhari approved N37 billion for the rehabilitation of the ageing structure.
The proposed expenditure immediately generated widespread public criticism, with many Nigerians questioning the huge amount earmarked for upgrading the complex.
However, in 2020, amid the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government reviewed the rehabilitation cost downward to N9 billion and decided to execute the project in phases.
Despite the revision, reports later indicated that approximately N37 billion was eventually spent on the rehabilitation project, which was awarded to Visible Construction Limited.
Renovation work commenced around April 2022, compelling lawmakers to relocate plenary sessions to makeshift chambers situated within one of the committee rooms.
Following nearly two years of temporary legislative sittings, members of the National Assembly returned to their renovated chambers in April 2024 amid expectations that the upgraded facilities would enhance legislative efficiency and align parliament with modern technological standards.
However, barely two months after lawmakers resumed in the refurbished chambers, signs of serious deficiencies began to emerge, raising concerns over the quality of work delivered despite the enormous public funds committed to the project.
Among the most glaring defects are malfunctioning microphones and an electronic voting system that has become unusable.
For journalists covering proceedings, watching plenary from television screens at the National Assembly Press Centre has become a better alternative than reporting from the public gallery inside the chambers, where lawmakers’ voices are frequently muffled and barely audible due to poor audio output.
The first public indication that the refurbishment had failed to meet expectations came on May 7, 2024, when Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, openly criticised the state of the Senate chamber during plenary.
Ndume likened the newly renovated chamber to an ordinary conference room, lamenting the absence of electronic voting facilities and the poor quality of the audio system, which he said made it difficult to identify lawmakers speaking during debates.
“This is not a chamber; it is like a conference room. You will not even know that it is me, Ndume, that is speaking, so also when the leader is speaking.
“We need to correct this. We need to change so many things. As with the sitting row, if you want to stand up, you will have to use tactics or a strategy.
“There is no voting device here. If we are to vote electronically, the facilities are not there, but we had that previously,” Ndume said.
Responding to the criticism, Senate President Godswill Akpabio noted that the contract for the renovation had been awarded during the tenure of his predecessor, Ahmad Lawan.
“This is not our contract; it was a contract that was awarded in the ninth senate,” Akpabio stated.
In the House of Representatives, the electronic voting system initially appeared functional.
During plenary on December 17, 2025, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas directed Amos Daniel, Chairman of the House Committee on House Services, to educate lawmakers on the operation of the electronic voting system as members prepared to vote on constitutional amendment bills.
However, many legislators struggled to understand the technology during the demonstration.
Seeking to move proceedings forward, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu acknowledged that lawmakers could not master the system in a single day.
“We can’t use one day to learn this; maybe we need to dedicate one day to it. We may not be voting tomorrow; the leadership has not decided,” Kalu said.
Since that exercise, the electronic voting system has not been deployed during plenary sessions.
Meanwhile, the condition of several microphones and speakers inside the chamber has continued to deteriorate.
It has become increasingly common for lawmakers to abandon their designated seats and move to colleagues’ desks simply because the microphones attached to their own seats no longer function properly.
The technical shortcomings are even more evident in the public gallery, where journalists and visitors observe legislative proceedings.
Audio from debates is frequently muffled and barely audible, making it difficult for reporters to accurately follow deliberations.
The extent of the deficiencies became even more apparent on June 11, 2026, during deliberations on constitutional amendments relating to the state police bill.
As proceedings continued, both Speaker Abbas and Deputy Speaker Kalu struggled with malfunctioning microphones, with Kalu repeatedly striking the microphone diaphragm during the Committee of the Whole in an attempt to restore its functionality.
Before voting commenced, Abbas informed members that the electronic voting system had failed and that lawmakers would instead resort to manual voting.
“The electronic voting system is right now not working, so we are going to do a head count, one after the other, to ascertain that we have the number to actually pass this amendment,” Abbas announced.
The House subsequently adopted a controversial counting procedure.
Instead of conducting electronic voting or invoking a formal division to determine the precise number of lawmakers supporting the constitutional amendment, sergeants-at-arms were directed to physically count members.
The procedure immediately raised concerns over transparency and compliance with constitutional requirements.
Similarly, on June 24, the Senate also resorted to manual voting on the state police bill after its electronic voting device developed a technical fault.
Reacting to the development, governance expert and policy strategist Chibuzo Okereke described the House’s voting process on the state police bill as a missed opportunity for Nigeria’s legislature.
The Labour Party presidential candidate for the 2027 election argued that constitutional amendments require strict compliance with procedures designed to guarantee broad legislative consensus.
“If you look at the way the constitution and the standing order have provided for alterations of the constitution, the need for you to have two-thirds and all the processes, you will now realise that there is a purpose for it,” he told TheCable.
“They want to make sure that any policy that will be passed is something that enjoys an adequate and absolute majority. There is what we call division. Any constitutional alteration must be done through division, and division simply means that people will be allowed to vote and their vote will be recorded electronically or manually.”
Okereke maintained that relying solely on hand counting without conducting a formal division makes it difficult to determine with certainty whether the constitutionally required threshold was actually attained.
“The idea that people should raise their hand may be difficult to get that number. In the division, people’s names will be recorded, and a roll call will be taken. If they vote yes, there will be a roll call, and they will be mentioned.
“So, either you divide them, take their votes, and report to the presiding chair, or the presiding chair will decide to do a division by roll call, where he will call people’s names.
“After all, they did it to elect the speaker, so why are they running away from doing it in this one? Call people’s names. When you do, Nigerians will follow and even know whether a quorum was formed, how many people were there, and whether they got the number.”
The controversy surrounding the June 11 voting process is not the first of its kind.
There have been several instances where the 10th House of Representatives relied on voice votes for matters that constitutionally require a two-thirds majority, despite the availability of procedures capable of producing more verifiable outcomes.
On November 26, 2024, the House removed Danladi Umar as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal through a voice vote.
However, Paragraph 17(3), Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution and Section 22(3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provide that the chairman or any member of the tribunal can only be removed through an address supported by a two-thirds majority of each chamber of the National Assembly.
Again, on March 20, 2025, the House approved President Bola Tinubu’s request for emergency rule in Rivers State through a voice vote.
Section 305(6) of the Constitution stipulates that such a proclamation must be approved by a resolution supported by two-thirds of all members of each legislative chamber.
During debate on the emergency rule proclamation, Obi Aguocha, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Ikwuano South Federal Constituency of Abia State, raised a point of order, insisting that constitutional procedures, including headcounts, should be strictly observed.
On both occasions, Abbas maintained that the attendance register showed the required number of lawmakers was present.
However, legislative experts have argued that signatures on attendance registers do not necessarily reflect the number of lawmakers physically present when votes are eventually taken, since members may sign in and leave before proceedings conclude.
A similar controversy also emerged in the Senate during the ratification of the Rivers State emergency rule, with some senators questioning whether the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority had actually been satisfied.
Among those who criticised the process was Senator Aminu Tambuwal, representing Sokoto South and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Tambuwal argued that the National Assembly failed to secure the constitutionally required two-thirds majority before approving the emergency rule.
“The parliament is supposed to be guided by the constitution, its rules and its precedents,” Tambuwal said.
Efforts to obtain a reaction from the Chairman of the House Committee on House Services, Amos Daniel, proved unsuccessful, as he neither answered telephone calls nor responded to text messages seeking his comments on the issues surrounding the renovated chambers and the malfunctioning legislative facilities.