The Senate, on Tuesday, directed its Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, to investigate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over infractions allegedly committed against parliamentary rules.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, had verbal altercation with the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday over a change in her seating arrangement in the Senate Chamber.
The Committee Chaired by Senator Neda Imaseun, was mandated to thoroughly investigate the matter, make comprehensive recommendations and its findings to the Senate in session within two weeks.
The apex legislative Assembly made the decision following a voice vote after lawmakers revisited the controversy surrounding the altercation between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio over seat allocation, with Senators stressing the need to uphold parliamentary rules and decorum.
The Senate Spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, had raised a motion under Order 1(b) and 10, condemning what he described as Akpoti-Uduaghan’s “extreme intransigence” during the Senate session on February 20.
Adaramodu, who reviewed the saga on the floor of the Senate during plenary, said that “from that Thursday, the media was awash with this issue and I had to work on mending the perception of the 10th Senate. The Senate is not a platform for content creation but a place for lawmaking and oversight functions.”
He urged the Senate leadership to enforce discipline, stressing that “Where there is sin, there must be a penalty” to serve as deterrent to future offenders.
Rising in total support of Adaramodu, the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, also laid emphasis on the need for the Senate to be seriously committed to its rules and internal order.
He said: “There is no one who does not have an opinion on this issue, but we are unified by our rules. Under our watch, we will not allow this institution to be discredited beyond what we inherited. Integrity is non-negotiable.”
Bamidele dismissed claims that the dispute was rooted in gender bias or discrimination, citing examples of Senators who had accepted seat changes without protest.
In response, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, directed the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, to review the entire incident and report back to the Chamber.
Akpabio recalled that the Senate rules give discretion for members to sit anywhere, while contributions must be made from their designated seats, suggesting that lack of or shallow knowledge of the rule book by Akpoti-Uduaghan might have contributed to her unruly behaviour and avoidable altercation that followed.
He said: “the first day she was sworn in, she stood up to contribute, and I was worried if she had even read the rule book. There is nothing wrong with being vibrant, but everything wrong with disobeying procedure.”
The President of the Senate cited Order 66(2) and Section 55 of Senate rules, stressing the need for all Senators to conduct themselves with decorum, including prohibitions on chewing gum, drinking water or being disruptive during sittings.
“The rules empower the Senate President to suspend a Senator for infractions for at least 14 days. It’s not me who made the rules, it’s in the rule book”, Akpabio state.
