It is important to note that Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was absent from the day’s plenary.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has made an indirect mockery of Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
He made a remark identifying Natasha as an inexperienced senator who needs proper orientation to serve her people.
Akpabio made these comments during Tuesday’s plenary while responding to a motion raised by Sen. Yemi Adaramodu on the drama that unfolded last week between Akpabio and Natasha.
The incident in question occurred on Thursday when a dispute over a seat change without Natasha’s consent escalated into a heated exchange on the senate floor.
Addressing the Senate, Akpabio acknowledged that while senators are allowed to sit anywhere, they must return to their designated seats when making contributions. He suggested that Natasha’s defiance stemmed from a lack of understanding of senate procedures.
He said, “We know that the rule allows senators to sit anywhere, but if you need to make a contribution, you must go back to your seat.
“Even the first time the issue came up here, our distinguished sister was not even speaking from her seat and that was when they tried to call her to order. I think part of the problem is that when people come from court, they need orientation.
“The management of the National Assembly is hereby ordered to organise periodic orientations, particularly for senators who are mid-streamers, who came mid-stream and did not start when their colleagues started.”
He recounted Natasha’s early days in the senate, noting that she attempted to speak on the day she was sworn in and quickly brought a motion just two days later.
“I remember that this particular senator, on the day she was sworn in, raised her hand to speak. I was scared, but I had to recognise her.
“Part of what we give to you when you are sworn in is the standing order of the Senate. I think two days later she brought a motion. There is nothing wrong in being vibrant, that there is a lot wrong when you don’t know anything about the procedure. You can’t be a reverend father and go and start the church service, you must lay a foundation.”
Akpabio also addressed the microphone muting controversy, clarifying that it was not his doing but the actions of Natasha’s colleagues who attempted to stop her from speaking. He claimed she deliberately positioned herself for camera visibility rather than adhering to senate rules.
“On that day, you will notice that after we pleaded with her to speak from her seat and she refused, I think her colleagues rushed to her and attempted to mute her microphone.
“I did not mute the microphone because after that day we didn’t have the capacity for the senate president to mute the microphone from here because of the new installation we have here.
“Our colleagues went there and tried to mute the microphone to plead with her not to talk. But, later on I sent somebody from here to go and tell them to unmute the microphone so that she can ventilate her grievances. I wanted to hear why she would not move.
“I found out that the reason why she did not obey the senate standing order was because she wanted to position herself in a position where the camera can see her and so, the standing orders of the senate do not matter unless she sits where the camera can see her.
“I want to let you know that here is an instrument placed before the senate president that the moment you press that you want to talk, it gives a signal here. So, whether I see you directly by raising your hand or not, I will see you on the instrument before me. So, there is no senator that is not covered. There is no place that you speak from that the camera will not catch you.”
He further referenced senate rules that grant the senate president the power to reassign seats, discontinue a senator’s speech, and enforce disciplinary actions when necessary.
It is important to note that Sen. Natasha was absent from the day’s plenary.
Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, in his motion, described last week’s altercation as a “procedural infraction” that attracted negative public attention.
“Precisely last week Thursday, February 20th, there was what the media called drama on the floor of the chamber which senators will call a kind of procedural infraction.
“We know that the standing orders in the senate is the senate’s catechism and this is what rules the senate because we are ruled by rules, laws, statutes and orders.
“This extreme intransigence and obduracy drew a lot of public comments. Majority of those comments were very negative for the senate and precisely it happened to one of our colleagues that is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan who against Order 6 of our standing order, whereby the senate president is variously and particularly strengthened by the statute to allocate seats to senators and we know that within the senate chamber, a senator can be allocated any seat and since no senator is allocated a seat outside the senate chamber, we think that the senate president is in order in this wise.
“But like I said, that the infraction degenerated to the extent that our colleague disagreed in order to stand by the orders of the senate while raising a point of order and we know that when you are defending on the legislation, when you are not in order, you cannot raise a point of order. You have to be in order to ask for order.”
He emphasised that the senate is not a stage for “skit-making or social media content creation” and warned against actions that undermine the chamber’s decorum.
“My hunch is not whether the senate can raise any issue within the chamber because we know we enjoy absolute privilege but absolute privilege is not absolute disobedience.
“I just want to behold my colleagues that as you lay your bed, so you shall sleep on it. Are we laying this bed very well, or decently, for us to sleep very well, to have very good dreams for Nigeria?
“Our guiding rules, which is our testament, and our catechism, our own bible, and our own quran, which we all subscribe to, religiously, embodies, and then epitomises the whole Senate, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any action against it, is an action against the senate, it’s not an action against any president.”
READ ALSO: Senate seat drama as Natasha clashes with Akpabio
Other senators weighed in on the controversy, downplaying suggestions of bias against Natasha.
Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim suggested referring the matter to the ethics, privileges, and public petitions committee for further review, stating, “We have very many committees in the senate that handle issues like this. The ethnic committee is there. We could refer matters like this to them to give us better diagnosis of the issue and what we can do in accordance with our rule.
“The chamber is not about you alone, it’s about everybody and sitting arrangement is something that is not even too significant. I am at the back seat, but I can lend my voice. In fact, the former Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, is at the very back seat, after my own and he’s not complaining. So can anybody be at the back seat more than him?”
In his intervention the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele dismissed any claims of gender bias or personal attacks against Natasha, pointing out that several senior senators had previously been reassigned seats without issue.
“Let me make it clear to members of public that the hullabaloo about one of our colleagues, senator Natasha being asked to move to another seat, is nothing that has to do with gender, is nothing that has to do with hatred, is nothing that has to do with any form of malice.
“For the record, let me say again, Distinguished Senator Adamu Aliero, who has been governor for eight years, who has been honorable minister, and who is one of the most ranking senators in this senate today, was asked to move his seat and he didn’t make any issue out of it.
“We had a reason to change the seat of His Excellency Senator Waziri Tambuwal, he didn’t make any issue out of it. Senator Jarigbe, Wadada, we had a reason to change their seats and they didn’t have an issue with it and that is from the minority side. On the majority side, we had reasons to change the swat of Senator Wamakko, obviously on of the most ranking senators here and he didn’t make any issue. Senator Olamilekan, Tokunbo Abiru and several others, we changed their seats.
“Part of the reason that necessitated our recent decision here was because at least three colleagues had moved from the minority aisle to the majority aisle.
“Most of us listened to the interview that Senator Natasha granted on berekete. She exercised her right to speak, but the question was about the content of what she said, whether it was the truth or not.
“We have a committee that is in charge of how much of respect or character we display as elected members of this senate. How much of respect to the rules of this senate that we display. That is the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. That committee has a responsibility not only to investigate whatever refusal to obey our rules or the play of lack of sense of character, but the committee also has a responsibility to ensure that the privileges of their trusted senators are also protected and it is important that rather than us sitting here to debate this issue, that we just allow this matter to be referred to our Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions so that the committee can deal with this issue and probably in a week or two, come back to us and that will form the basis of our further debate and action on this matter.”
Following deliberations, the senate passed a vote of confidence in Akpabio and resolved to refer the matter to its Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions Committee for further legislative action. The committee is expected to report back within two weeks.
