Shameful moment Nigerian senators fought over sitting arrangement at renovated hallowed chamber
It was a shameful moment on Tuesday as Senators returned to their plenary session after a long forty-day break for Easter and Sallah, and things took an unexpected turn.
The Senate turned into a rowdy session when three senators got into a heated argument over sitting arrangements. The chamber was filled with intense rowdiness.
This happened in the reconfigured Hallowed Chamber as the Senators quarrelled among themselves over sitting arrangements.
Ecstasy of holding plenary proceedings in the renovated hallowed chamber first enveloped the session at the beginning, but trouble started when the President of the Senate , Godswill Akpabio started reading names of Senators who marked their birthdays during the forty days recess.
Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u, APC Zamfara North , angrily stood up from the seat allocated to him to complain about it to the Leader, Senator Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele, APC Ekiti Central.
Senator Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central also expressed displeasure of the seats assigned to them, and complained to Opeyemi Bamidele as well.
The Senators are using the renovated chamber for the first time today, this is coming 19 months after the closure of the Hallowed Chamber.
Recall that both the House of Representatives and the Senate moved to temporary chambers in September 2022 after commencement of renovation work on their Hallowed Chambers by Visible Construction Company Nigeria Limited in July 2022.
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had in March 2021, awarded a N37 billion contract to Visible Construction Limited and some other firms for rehabilitation of critical segments of the National Assembly complex, construction of Library, permanent site for the National Assembly Service Commission ( NASC) etc , which are all almost completed now .
According to the standing rules of the upper legislative chamber, senators sit according to ranking.
Ya’u’s complaints to the Leader which started on hushed tone, aggravated to shouting match between the two and consequently sparked reactions from other Senators and eventually degenerated into rowdy session .
During the rowdy session which lasted for about 30mins , Senator Ya’u angrily pointed his finger at the Leader , complaining that the Seat allocated to him at far right of the chamber was not befitting, being a ranking Senator who held principal position of Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate during the 9th National Assembly.
The verbal counter punching between the Leader and Senator Ya’u , festered further when Senator Danjuma Goje ( APC Gombe Central ) , joined them.
Goje also complained to the Leader that ranking Senators were not well positioned in the sitting arrangement .
To calm nerves, the President of the Senate, Akpabio called on the Leader and aggrieved Senators surrounding him to approach the Chair which they did and eventually paved way for Akpabio to read his welcome address.
After Akpabio’s welcome address , an emergency executive session was called for by the leader apparently to diffuse the bottled anger among Senators over sitting arrangement.
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