SENATE President, Godswill Akpabio and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi-Central) on Wednesday again clashed at the Senate during plenary as attempts to reject Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition of sexual harassment failed.
Rising under Order 40 of the Senate rules, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she had made some comments on Arise TV bordering on alleged sexual harassment by Akpabio and had decided to table the same as a petition before the Senate.
Akpabio asked the senator to proceed with the submission of the petition — which she did.
However, soon afterwards, Chief Whip of the Senate, Mohammed Monguno, raised a point of order quoting Senate Standing Rule, Rule 40 (4) which states: No senator must present a petition signed by himself/herself.
He, therefore, requested that the Senate reject Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition.
Akpoti-Uduaghan rejected Monguno’s point, arguing that he had got the sequence of events wrong.
“This matter is not in court. The matter in court is defamation against the senate president’s special assistant on social media, Patrick Mfon, who accused me of dressing indecently to the Senate”, the Kogi lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, Monguno’s view was supported by Akpabio who also quoted the senate standing rule saying: The senate must not receive or deliberate on any matter to which actions are pending in any court of law.
Senator Yahaya Abdullahi argued that there was no need to deliberate on the matter after it had been forwarded to the committee.
He said, “It’s left for the committee to decide and handle it.”
But Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, however, opposed his submission stating the “issue concerns the integrity of the senate” declaring the petition “defective “
Bamidele called for the senate to dissolve into the committee of the whole which Akpabio rejected after the house was descending into commotion.
Akpabio argued that they were strangers including parliamentarians from the UK in the chamber and “calling for a committee of the whole means we are asking them to go.”
The senate President subsequently ruled Bamidele out of order and requested that the senate move into the business of the day.
Eighteen-Eleven Media