Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The red chamber became rowdy yesterday when the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Diaspora and Nongovernmental Organisations, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the relocation of her seat in the red chamber without her knowledge.
Her protest pitched her against the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who refused to listen to her because she refused to speak from the seat that was newly allocated to her.
Tension started when Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, refused to accept the seat that had been reallocated to her.
She outrightly rejected the change in the sitting arrangement by not taking up another seat.
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Monguno had through a point of order cited sections of the Senate Standing Rules, to justify the reallocation of the seat and another seat given to her.
Monguno explained that the changes were necessary to accommodate changes caused by some opposition members moving to the majority party, the APC.
He said such changes fall within the constitutional prerogative of the Senate President.
Monguno further emphasized that failure to comply with the new sitting arrangement could lead to penalties for “improper seating position.” including the possibility of being prevented from participating in Senate proceedings.
He noted that the reallocation was due to defections by opposition lawmakers, which had altered the sitting arrangement.
Quoting the Senate Standing Orders, Monguno stressed that any senator who refused to comply with a seat allocated to him or her would not be recognized or allowed to contribute to debates.
Senate Presenter Godswill Akpabio sustained Monguno’s point of order.
However, when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan signified her intention to speak by raising her hand, Akpabio did not recongnise her to speak because she was not sitting on her newly allocated seat.
Obviously angry by the position of the Senate President, Akpoti-Uduaghan raised her voice in protest, in defiance to Akpabio’s refusal to recognize her.
She said, “I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege.”
Her protests led to a tension and a rowdy session in the Senate forcing Akpabio to instruct the Sergeant-At-Arms to take charge and remove her from the seat in line with relevant sections of the Senate Standing Orders.
One of the operatives of the Sergeant-At-Arms moved and stood beside the seat being occupied by Akpoti-Uduaghan and asked her to vacate it but she refused.
Some ranking senators and principal officers immediately intervened to prevent the situation from degenerating into further crisis.
They approached her in an attempt to calm her down, but she appeared not to have been placated as she maintained her position.
After the chambers became calm, Akpabio explained that the development was caused by the ongoing renovation of the Senate and new sitting arrangements following the defection of some senators to other political parties.
Akpabio said, “When the chambers was renovated, one of the things I said was that I hope the renovation will not turn us into South African Parliament, where you hear ‘Malema sit down,’ ‘Malema sit down’ and that is because we know how the electronic system ought to work.”
He recalled a similar experience during his time in the 8th Senate, saying that he too, had protested against his seat being changed but he succeeded in managing to resolve the issue without it becoming a public spectacle.
“I recall that in the 8th Senate, I had almost a similar issue, where seats were reallocated as a result of movement and I also moved at that time.
“So when I came into the chambers, they gave me a different seat. I also voiced out my anger, and I said, what is going on here?
“The Senate President was able to control the situation, so everything I said did not get out to the public and so social media had nothing to feast on.
“So unfortunately, we need to go back to our old microphone system so that people will not speak out of order, and they’ll not speak when they are not recognised.
So I apologise on behalf of the contractor for the issue.”
As the plenary session progressed, other senators from Kogi State intervened in the controversy.
Senator Isah Jibrin (APC – Kogi East) specifically said Akpoti-Uduaghan did not handle the situation of her seat change in the appropriate manner.
He therefore apologised on her behalf to the Senate, saying the Kogi caucus would counsel her.
His colleague from Kogi West, who is the Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Senator Sunday Karimi, whose part of his responsibility is to allocate seats, said Akpoti-Uduaghan action was not proper.
He said, “Even as Chairman committee on Senate Services, you don’t need to even tell me before you change seats.
“Senator Ekong Sampson told me he wanted a seat that has been taken but before you know it, Senator Natasha shouted my name.
“When she came in, we extended an arm of friendship to her, in fact, we loved her too much. I don’t know why this place will be turned upside down like that.
“I want to add that she should come out and apologise to us for her behaviour this morning.”
He said he barely managed to contain her anger by not replying Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan when she rained personal insult on him.
“I don’t know how to fight a woman that is why I controlled by temper following her insults. Today my name will be in the social media for the wrong reasons.”
In his response, Akpabio acknowledged Karimi’s frustration and sought to de-escalate the tension.
Akpabio said, “Senator Karimi, I can see that you are very hurt. I just want to appeal to you to temper justice with mercy.
“We are not going to resolve into a committee of whole or refer the issue to the Committee on Ethics and code of conduct and public petitions. The matter would be dealt with at the appropriate time.
“I just want to say that anybody who is prepared to make law must be prepared to obey the law.”
