Lawmaker faults Akpabio’s side meetings during plenary, say it's 'unparliamentary'

There was a mild drama in the Senate chamber on Tuesday after the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, briefly halted plenary to hold a private discussion with some senators at his seat.

Mr Akpabio entered the chamber at about 12:10 p.m., while plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, was already in progress. He took over proceedings during the presentation of scheduled bills.

However, about 10 minutes after assuming control, he summoned the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, to his chair for a discussion.

Shortly after Mr Bamidele approached, several other senators including Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross-River South), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo South), Titus Zam (Benue North-west) and Mr Barau, also moved toward the senate president’s seat, causing plenary to stall for more than 40 minutes.

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While some senators were in discussion with Mr Akpabio, others were seen chatting among themselves. Several lawmakers also left their designated seats to hold side conversations, creating a noisy and disorderly atmosphere in the chamber.

During the discussion, Gombe Central Senator, Danjuma Goje, rose to caution the senate president against pausing plenary for private consultations.

Mr Goje, a former governor and member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said Mr Akpabio’s action is unparliamentary and insisted such discussions should not take place during an active session.

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He invoked Order 55 of the Senate Rule Book, which prohibits senators from interrupting proceedings, and insisted that such meetings should be held outside the chamber.

“Interaction not allowed…what I’m trying to say Mr President is that what is happening now is unparliamentary. What you’re doing now is unparliamentary. You should have taken this meeting outside. ,Everything is standstill now. We’re not doing our actual business. We should go on recess. When we’re ready we’ll come back and meet you,” he added.

Responding, Mr Akpabio explained that the senators, who gathered around his seat were invited to deliberate on an assignment scheduled for 1 p.m., at the Presidential Villa.

“Everybody that you’re seeing here was invited by the chair for a brief discussion in continuation of today’s sitting and in line with the order you’ve just read, whether or not we should proceed in view of a very urgent assignment at the villa by 1 o’ clock,” Mr Akpabio said.

The senate president then asked Mr Goje to approach the chair so he could also be part of the meeting.

“And please approach the chair so that you can also be part of it,” he added.

Mr Goje rejected the invitation, stating that he was not interested.

“I don’t want to be part of it,” Mr Goje responded.

Mr Akpabio has a habit of keeping senators waiting and pausing plenary to hold private discussions with lawmakers during proceedings. He has repeatedly engaged in this practice, even though it is at variance with the Senate’s rules.