A rowdy session erupted in the Senate on Tuesday, causing plenary to be suspended for over thirty minutes, after Sen. Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central) openly criticized the President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.
The disruption began when Akpabio entered the chamber and took over the presiding seat from the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North).
Immediately upon taking his seat, Akpabio summoned the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), and others to approach the Chair for a private meeting.
Irked by this action, Goje immediately rose and raised a Point of Order, citing Order 55 (12) (a) of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (as Amended), which prohibits “interaction” during plenary.
Goje, a former governor, challenged Akpabio for what he described as an “unparliamentary act,” insisting that “Interaction is not allowed except to move the business that we have been called upon to do.”
“Mr. Senate President what you are doing is unparliamentary. You are disturbing the business of the Senate. You cannot be holding a separate meeting when the Senate is in session.”
Akpabio then summoned Goje to approach the chair, but he refused, saying he cannot be “part of what is illegal and unparliamentary.”
Goje said: “What I’m trying to say, Mr. President, is that what is happening now is unparliamentary. What you are doing here is unparliamentary. You should have done this outside. When we come to the Parliament, we do parliamentary business.
“I want you to listen to this. What we are doing here, everything is at standstill now. We are not doing business”.
The confrontation escalated when the Senate President, Akpabio, simply responded “noted” to Goje’s point of order.
Goje immediately challenged this, asking, “noted but not sustained?”
Despite subsequent efforts by Akpabio to pacify the former Gombe State Governor, Senator Goje remained firm, insisting that the Senators meeting with the Senate President “should leave there so that the Senate will move on.”
Akpabio then offered a brief explanation and an “olive branch,” stating that the discussion was brief and in line with the day’s sitting, and related to a “very urgent assignment at the Villa by one o’clock.”
He then invited Goje to “Please, approach the chair so you can also be part of it.”
Goje vehemently refused the offer, saying, “I don’t want to be part of it. I’m opposed to this one. I will not come. It’s unparliamentary. It’s wrong.”
Akpabio finally offered the specific reason for his haste, explaining that he needed to attend the “Armed Forces Emblem Launch which will take place at the Presidential Villa.”
Leave a comment