Senate: Uproar as Akpabio, Akpoti-Uduaghan clash over change of seat

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

There was uproar during Senate plenary, yesterday, as the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central), protested a decision by the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, to relocate her seat.

Akpoti-Uduaghan had flared up when she entered the chamber for plenary but could not find her name on the seat which she usually occupies. She immediately raised her voice and demanded an explanation.

Relying on Order 10 of the Senate standing rules which deals with privileges, she asked the Senate president to recognise her to speak, a request that was denied. This further infuriated her. “I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege.

“Mr Senate President, ever since the night-club incident, you have deliberately silenced my voice. My bills have not been able to scale through to second reading. I am not afraid of being silenced, but I will do so in honour.

“As a senator duly elected by my people, I chose to remain on this seat, come what may. The worst you can do is to suspend me from this sitting and that will not stop me from contributing my quota to my constituency, the Senate and Nigeria as a whole.

“Mr Senate President, I have taken a lot from you. If you don’t want me to speak publicly, I will let the whole world know how you have discriminated against me, maligned me, dehumanised me.

“Your choice of words have embarrassed me, Mr President, do what you may, I will not leave this seat.”

At this point, Akpabio instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms: “Please take her out, so that we can continue with today’s activities.”

The Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central) and other colleagues then proceeded to where she was seated to restore calm and make her understand the reason for the change in the sitting arrangement and the business of the day began.

Later in the day, one of the senators from her state,  Isah Jibrin (Kogi East), rising on Order 42, which allows for personal explanation, recalled the incident which occurred earlier in the day. He noted that various detections in the past weeks left vacancies in seats which had to be filled, hence the shufflement.

He subsequently apologised to the Senate president and the entire senate for the behaviour of Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan which he said was “uncalled for”, while appealing that the matter should  not be escalated beyond the chamber.

Following up on his comments, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Services, Karimi Sunday (Kogi West), relying on Order 14 which deals with privileges and discipline, expressed displeasure over the way his female colleague addressed him during her tirade.

He informed the Senate that she was shouting his name but because he exercised restraint, he did not answer her.

Ruling on the matter, Akpabio urged the senator and any other one who was offended by her outburst “to temper justice with mercy and forgive.” While stressing that there was nothing unusual in reallocating seats, he pointed out that “the framers of the Standing Orders of the Senate, section 6(1) and (2) say a senator may only speak  from the seat allocated to him or her provided that the president of the Senate may change the allocation from time to time.

“I want the public to realise that what we are doing here, we are guided by rules and the constitution so we don’t do things just for doing.”

“What has happened today is an aberration so my ruling on the issue is please that the senators should not feel offended. Let us continue to focus on the business that brought us here, which is the Nigerian people’s support for the government of Nigeria to provide dividends of democracy and move this country forward.”