A mild drama played out on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday after Peter Uzokwe, a member representing Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo, Anambra State, raised a motion on the decorum of the House during plenary.
Mr Uzokwe, a member of the Youth Progressive Party (YPP), had repeatedly attempted to raise a point of order shortly after the formal announcement of two defections earlier in the day but was not recognised by the presiding officer, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, until much later in the session.
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When finally granted permission to speak, Mr Uzokwe began by invoking a proverb from his community, saying, “Mr Speaker, there is an adage in my place that says an elder will not be in the house and the she-goat gives birth while the rope is on.”
He continued, “Every day we come here, we receive our children in our gallery. Why are they coming here? They come to see how we are conducting ourselves. They come to learn from us. But most times, what we display here shouldn’t be what they will see as an example of parliamentarians.
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“Mr Speaker, I love you. I love the leadership of this House. We are united, but we must conduct ourselves,” he said before being interjected by the speaker.
Interrupting him, Mr Tajudeen cautioned the lawmaker to be mindful of his comments, saying, “Please, if what we are going to discuss pertains to this hallowed chamber…”
Mr Uzokwe quickly responded, “Yes, because it breached my privilege.”
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However, the speaker maintained his position, advising that such issues be addressed internally.
“Hold on, please. We can do it in an executive session. We don’t need to wash our dirty linen in public. I don’t understand what we stand to gain. You can request an executive session to address issues that have to do with our conduct.
“This is not the forum for you to do that. I will appeal to you to withdraw. If you have issues that have to do with the way and manner we are conducting ourselves during plenary, we can do it indoors, in-house. We don’t need to actually discuss that matter here,” Mr Tajudeen stated.
Acknowledging the speaker’s appeal, Mr Uzokwe agreed to stand down his motion but insisted on making a brief closing remark.
“For that love I professed for you, I will say that I will abide by what you say. But I want to make sure that we all know that the society we neglect will…,” he said.
Before he could conclude, the speaker interjected again, saying, “You have made your point clear,” effectively bringing the matter to a close.”
The short but notable exchange came barely an hour after the House witnessed the defection of two members – Sagir Koki and Abdulmumin Jibrin, both from Kano State, from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Although Mr Uzokwe did not directly refer to the earlier event, his comments are interpreted as a veiled expression of concern about the rising partisanship, side remarks, and disorder that occasionally greet sensitive proceedings in the chamber.
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