…Over seating arrangement
Seating arrangement sparked a heated exchange between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio in the Senate on Thursday with a razor-edged tension pervading the plenary session.
Trouble sprouted when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat was reassigned on resumption of the session.
To justify the seat reallocation, the Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, raised a point of order, citing sections of the Senate rule book and explaining that the changes were necessary to accommodate shifts caused by some opposition members moving to the majority wing.
He explained further that the Senate president had the constitutional prerogative to reallocate the lawmakers’ seats.
The chief whip said that any senator who refused to abide with the new seating arrangement could be penalised.
He stressed that such erring senators could be barred from participating in discussions on the Senate floor.
Senator Akpabio ruled in favour of the order.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan who was seated on her old seat after the reassignment then raised her hand to speak but was denied recognition.
She then confronted the Senate president directly, raising her voice: “I don’t care if I am silenced. I am not afraid of you. You have denied me my privilege”.
The confrontation persisted with the Senate President ordering the sergeant-at-arms to walk the Kogi senator out of the chamber.
However, some of the lawmakers intervened to douse the tension and calm was restored but Senator Natasha-Akpoti refused to leave the chamber.