Lawan, Akpabio, others stir bedlam in Senate

The Senate was thrown into a shouting match Wednesday as lawmakers argued over sitting arrangements after Senate President Bukola Saraki refused to recognise APC Sen. Godswill Akpabio.

The Akwa Ibom former governor had wanted to contribute to a point order PDP Sen Akpan raised, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State of plotting to cause mayhem in the forthcoming general election.

The APC senators then began to shout in the background.

Saraki, thereafter, noted Mr Akpan’s statement and asked the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, to proceed with other items on the Order Paper.

While Akpabio raised his hand, Saraki said he would not allow him make contribution because he was not in his appropriate seat.

“Senator… eh… former Minority Leader, you know you can’t speak from there. You can’t. Go to your seat, when you get to your seat, I’ll recognise you,” he said.

He, thereafter, asked the leader of the Senate to proceed with other items on the Order Paper.

Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan objected.

“If he decides to sit there, let him. There is no microphone there. Let us not take the panadol for his headache. Let me advise, that even though we have only six, seven months to go, let’s do what is right,” he said.

He added that the Clerk of the Senate allocated the sit to Mr Akpabio – a statement Mr Saraki refuted stating that he directed the Clerk to allocate seats to lawmakers.

The lawmakers then began to shout at each other with each person trying to defend his party. This lasted for a while after which Emmanuel Paulker (PDP, Bayelsa) got up to speak.

“Mr President, Senator Akpan came under Order 43 which is Self-Explanation. You cannot contribute. Akpabio you cannot!,” he said.

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Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule states that “By the indulgence of the Senate and the leave of the President of the Senate, a senator may make a personal explanation. The statement shall be submitted in detail to the President of the Senate. There is no contribution to be made by any other senator.”

As the noise increased, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu stressed that “there was no need for bickering.

But that didn’t help.

“There should be equity. You cannot discriminate against us,” the Senate Leader shouted.
After several minutes of rowdiness, Mr Akpabio stood up to explain that the seat was allocated to him by the Clerk.

“I was seeking your attention to re-appraise you of Order 11. The seat was allocated to me by the Clerk and I expect that you were notified. The embarrassment I got today was uncalled for. I demand an apology, not just written but verbal too.”

The APC lawmakers started asking the Senate President to apologise.

“He should apologise. Even the PDP apologised to Nigerians. What’s the big deal?,” Sen. Ali Ndume said.

Akpabio, however, apologised.

“In view of the situation of the Senate today, I want to apologise to my colleagues and I raised my voice earlier and to say that until the Senate is well constituted and the seats are well arranged, I want to hold my peace.”

Akpabio was former minority leader who just defected to the ruling APC while Saraki was among the latest party hoppers from the APC to the opposition.