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Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Thursday disrupted Senate proceedings in protest against the change of her seat in the chamber.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was moved from her original position on the second-to-last row of the minority section to the last row without her consent.
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The senator refused to comply with the rearrangement.
She insisted on sitting in her former seat, thus undermining the Senate rules requiring senators to occupy designated seats to be recognised to speak.
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Clash over Senate rules
Her refusal to relocate prompted the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, to cite Section 6(1) of the Senate Standing Rules, which grants the senate president the authority to reassign seats when necessary.
Mr Monguno justified the seat change due to recent defections by opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He warned that failing to adhere to seating arrangements could lead to penalties, including being barred from participating in Senate discussions.
In response, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, upheld Mr Monguno’s position, ruling against Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan.
However, she remained defiant, raising her hand to protest but was denied permission by the senate president to speak in line with the Senate’s regulations.
Defiance and expulsion from the chamber
Despite the ruling, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan refused to vacate the seat. She instead raised her voice.
“I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege,” she said.
In reaction, Mr Akpabio quickly switched off her microphone and directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her from the chamber.
“Can the sergeant at arms please take her out of the Senate,” Mr Akpabio said.
The parliamentary security officers approached her, but she resisted.
Several senators also attempted to mediate and calm her, but she refused to back down.
Akpabio’s response and mockery
Amid the commotion, Mr Akpabio made light of the situation by comparing the Nigerian Senate chamber to the South African Parliament, where opposition leader Julius Malema frequently faces calls to sit down.
“When the chamber was renovated, one of the things I said was that I hope the renovation will not turn us into South African Parliament, where you hear Malema sit down, Malema sit down, and that is because we know how the electronic system ought to work,” he said.
He referenced his experience in the 8th Senate, acknowledging that he had protested the seat change but managed to resolve it without making it a public discussion.
Mr Akpabio suggested a return to the old microphone system to prevent senators from speaking out of order or without recognition.
“I recall that in the 8th Senate, I had almost a similar issue, where seats were reallocated as a result of movement, and I also moved at that time. So when I came into the chamber, they gave me a different seat. I also voiced my anger and said, what is going on here?
“The senate president was able to control the situation, so everything I said did not get out to the public, and so social media had nothing to feast on.
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“So, unfortunately, we need to go back to our old microphone system so that people will not speak out of order, and they’ll not speak when they are not recognised,” he said.
He said mockingly, “So I apologise on behalf of the contractor for the issue.”
Previous clash
This confrontation is the latest in clashes between Mr Akpabio and Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In July 2024, she spoke on a motion without obtaining Mr Akpabio’s permission, an action the senate president swiftly condemned. He compared the situation with a nightclub where anyone could speak at will.
Mr Akpabio had also attempted to silence another female senator, Ireti Kingibe (Labour Party, FCT), who proposed providing amenities for fire victims in Karu market, Abuja.
Critics on social media have since accused him of attempting to marginalise and silence female senators.
Political implications?
The latest incident may not be divorced from the committee reshuffle at the upper chamber.
In what some perceive as retaliation, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was recently removed as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Content and reassigned to the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
The former is considered a lucrative committee due to its oversight of oil agencies, leading many to speculate that her reassignment was politically motivated.
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