Around 100 House of Representatives members staged a protest in Abuja on Tuesday, expressing their dissatisfaction with the alleged discrimination in the allocation of seats and offices. The lawmakers, mostly first-timers, voiced their concerns about the seating arrangement, stating that the seats allocated to them on the third floor were not conducive for effective legislative activities.
The responsibility of seat allocation was assigned to the House Committee on Welfare, chaired by Rep. Olawale Raji (APC-Lagos). A list issued by the committee indicated that 240 members were allocated seats on the second floor, while a few members, including some first-timers, were assigned seats on the ground floor.
In addition to the seating issue, some lawmakers also protested against the allocation of offices. However, Khadijat Bukar-Ibrahim, Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee on Media, clarified that the allocation of offices was carried out by the Welfare Committee, and each member was assigned an office.
“And as far as the seats are concerned, you know we are in a temporary seating area, so there are not enough seats for all members to sit downstairs. So, some have to be accommodated upstairs.
“So, there was a slide uproar, not a huge one about not hearing the mic from the downstairs,” She said.
“Mr. Speaker had since directed that members should occupy any seat they find downstairs and everybody was happy,” Bukar-Ibrahim added.
Responding to the protest, the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, called for calm and assured the lawmakers that the main Chamber, which is currently undergoing renovation, would be completed before the House resumes from recess.
During the plenary session, there was a slight uproar regarding the seat allocation, with some members expressing dissatisfaction about not being able to hear the microphone from the downstairs seating area. However, the Speaker directed members to occupy any available seat downstairs, which reportedly resolved the issue and left the members satisfied.
