President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio on Thursday declined calls by some of his colleagues to sanction the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for her unruly behaviour during plenary......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Akpoti-Uduaghan had disrupted the plenary session when she launched a verbal tirade, targeting Akpabio, on discovering that she had been allocated a different seat at the rear of the chamber.
Going by the Senate’s standing rule, only the President of the Senate has the powers to allocate seats to senators in the chamber.
Obviously piqued by the change in her seating arrangement, Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Akpabio of continually disrespecting her.
Shouting on top of her voice, she recalled an incident during plenary last year, when Akpabio told her, “Senator Natasha, we are not in the nightclub.”
“Since the nightclub incident, you have been disrespecting me. How can you change my seat without my consent. I am not afraid of you,” she screamed.
An obviously flustered Akpabio watched helplessly as the female lawmaker continued to rant, with some of her colleagues trying to calm her down.
Attempts by some senators to escalate the matter was resisted by Akpabio. Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi West), urged the Senate President to put in motion the process of sanctioning Senator Natasha, but Akpabio declined.
At a point, Akpabio threatened to have her sent out of the chamber if she continued with the verbal assault. Sanity eventually prevailed as the lawmaker finally took her new seat.
Also, another senator from Kogi East, Jibrin Isah, insisted that Natasha must be made to apologise to Akpabio and the entire Senate for her unruly behaviour.
When it was obvious that Akpabio was not interested in escalating the matter, Senator Isah apologised on her behalf and on behalf of the Kogi caucus in the Senate.
Akpabio, who tried to maintain his equanimity through Natasha’s rage, urged his colleagues to let the matter rest so that senators can concentrate on the job they were elected to do.
Natasha’s outburst could be traced to how she was addressed during plenary sometime in 2024, when Akpabio, who was presiding, asked her to comport herself, reminding her that the Senate chamber wasn’t a nightclub.
Although Akpabio had since apologised to the female senator, recalling the incident in Thursday’s encounter showed that she might have given vent to unresolved pent-up emotions.
When the heat subsided, Akpabio explained that it was the recent defection of Senator Ned Nwoko from PDP to APC that caused the minor change in seating arrangement.