By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—There was a brief fire outbreak in the Senate wing of the National Assembly on Wednesday, which was swiftly brought under control by lawmakers, preventing it from spreading further.
The incident occurred at Senate Hearing Room 107 during the screening of Dr. Zainab Marwa as a member of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), representing the North-East geopolitical zone.
The fire was reportedly contained through the quick intervention of Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC, Cross River South) and Senator Salihu Mustapha (APC, Kwara Central), who helped extinguish the flames in the kitchen section of the hearing room.
The Senate Committee on NDDC, chaired by Senator Ekpenyong, had just concluded the screening exercise when smoke from the affected area began to spread across the room, causing brief disruption.
It was later gathered that the fire may have been caused by a microwave left on in the kitchen area.
Despite the momentary commotion, the situation was quickly brought under control, and proceedings were halted without further incident.
Meanwhile, the Senate had earlier received a request from President Bola Tinubu seeking the confirmation of Dr. Zainab Marwa as the North-East representative on the NDDC Governing Board.
The request, read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, noted that the nomination was made in line with Section 2 of the NDDC Establishment Act.
According to the letter, the appointment is to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the former North-East representative, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, who stepped down on March 30, 2026, to contest the Adamawa State governorship election.
The Senate has referred the nomination to its Committee on NDDC for further legislative consideration and is expected to report back within one to two weeks.
