There are no issues at Senate, Akpabio assures Nigerians

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has assured Nigerians that there are no problems in the higher legislative chambers, stating that recent incidents of disagreement are unavoidable in a parliament.

Akpabio said this on Wednesday, at the State House, Abuja after he met with President Bola Tinubu.

According to him, “In the parliament, sometimes you disagree to agree. We are all working in one accord: to support the President, support his administration in legislation, oversee functions to succeed, in order to move the country forward and that is what we have been doing and that is what we are committed to doing.”

The Senate President made this statement in response to an incident that occurred on Tuesday in the red chambers; during which Senate Chief Whip Ali Ndume expressed dissatisfaction about Akpabio’s leadership of legislative proceedings not always adhering to Senate rules and regulations.

The chief whip was immediately declared out of order by the Senate President which thereafter made Ndume stage a walk out of the Senate chamber and into his office.

Speaking about such incidents, Akpabio stated that in Parliament, the majority decision is the only one that counts, regardless of disagreements about certain senate actions.

Therefore, he guaranteed that the Red6 chamber members would never resort to violence or hurling chairs at one another.

“Even if some people disagree on some of the happenings in the senate, still, it is only the majority decision that is going to prevails and Parliament is like that. But we will never get to a point of ‘throwing chairs’. We will never get to that point. The senate is too mature, full of matured people, so, if we have a disagreement, we immediately go into a closed session, resolve it and come out smiling. We are politicians, no ‘permanent hatred but permanent interest’. That interest is the interest of the nation.”

Akpabio also said that the 10th Senate would be holding its first retreat in Akwa-Ibom South South, and that he came to advise the president that his participation was requested.

In addition he said he also informed President Tinubu about his planned trip to Angola to attend the internal parliamentary union.

“I came to inform the President of the first 10th Assembly retreat which is taking place in tomorrow in Akwa Ibom State and also to solicit his support towards ensuring representation at the retreat and he has graciously done that and I told him some of things we are going to discuss – task reform and ways of ensuring the generation of revenue for him to work for Nigerians. He needs to be informed that the Senate will not be available in Abuja, as we will be attending the retreat.”