The House of Representatives was thrown into confusion on Thursday when members engaged in fisticuffs over election of principal officers.

The mace the lower House’s symbol of authority had to be transferred to the inner chambers of the Speaker as aggrieved members attempted to wrest it from its usual position.

The crisis commenced when the House broke into two factions with one supporting the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which has given directives on how the principal officers should emerge and another group lining up behind the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, who is bent on following rules in electing the officers.

The House and the Senate in recent weeks have been rocked by crisis over the election of their principal officers.

This has stalled legislative work.

Thursday’s crisis started when the speaker made to commence legislative work for the day. Irate APC members who began to raise points of order to stall the process eventually rushed for the mace in order to cripple proceedings.