NIGERIANS have taken to social media to lambast Senate President Godwill Akpabio for ordering his fellow senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, out of the Senate Chamber.
The ICIR reported on Thursday, February 20, that Akpabio ordered Akpoti-Uduaghan to be ejected from the Senate chamber during a plenary because she disagreed with a change in her seat.
Social media users, especially on X, expressed anger after a video of the plenary session surfaced online. The video shows the Senate President attempting to silence Akpoti-Uduaghan as she questioned why her seat was changed without her consent.
Akpabio had re-assigned Akpoti-Uduaghan to a new seat because some senators from the minority parties to which she belonged had defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) which has the majority of members.
The defectors had decided to change their seats from the minority wing to the area where senators in the majority sit. Consequently, there was seat re-arrangement, which Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was unaware of.
This sparked heated arguments when Akpoti-Uduaghan raised her hand to speak but was denied recognition for not addressing the chamber from her newly assigned seat.
Refusing to back down, Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), raised her voice in protest, directly confronting Akpabio.
Akpabio turned off Akpoti-Uduaghan’s microphone in an attempt to silence her while she was still making her motion. She kept speaking and Akpabio ordered the sergeant-at-arms to walk her out, but after the intervention from various lawmakers, calm was restored, and the lawmaker stood her ground.
Nigerians reaction
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, shortly after the video surfaced, took to his Facebook page to say that Akpabio was aversed to the opposition and would not survive if he exhibited such behaviour in the South African Parliament.
Effiong argued that instead of assigning new seats to the defectors, Akpabio should have declared their seats vacant. He emphasised that the defection was illegal, making the justification for re-arranging seats invalid.
“Akpabio conveniently cited the Rules of the Senate but willfully ignored Section 68(2) of the Constitution that mandates him as Senate President to declare the defectors’ seats vacant. Having defected, they are no longer senators. They automatically lost their seats the moment they defected. Offering new seats to illegal defectors, who by the Constitution, have lost their membership, amounts to constitutional vandalism” he said.
The lawyer urged Nigerians to hold Akpabio accountable for enabling the violation of the Constitution if they genuinely cared about the country and the rule of law.
A social media user, @maybeks on X, urged Akpabio to refrain from targeting Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing her as one of the few senators who consistently prioritised public service over personal gain.
“Dear Akpabio, Natasha Akpoti is one of the few senators who has always prioritised public service over personal gain, delivering the true dividends of democracy to her constituents. Her position in NASS is of great value to Nigeria. Any action against Natasha is against many of us” the user said.
Another user, @ubando100, wrote: “Dear @Senator_Akpabio, I just want to inform you that Senator Natasha is more intelligent, brave and committed to serving for the betterment of her constituents than you.
Another user, @webtvgirl, said: “Dear Senate President Akpabio, You shall not silence Natasha Akpoti. It seems you believe Natasha is your wife or girlfriend—she is not. She is a democratically elected senator, just like you. Your repeated attempts to silence her have reached their peak today.”
@therealsimcard1 also wrote, “Senator Godswill Akpabio must be stopped. That man is not worthy to be a senator not to talk about being the Senate President. Nigerians and Kogites must protect Senator Natasha at all costs”
Meanwhile, several social media users commend Akpoti-Uduaghan for standing her ground against Akpabio.
Attack not Akpabio’s first on Akpoti-Uduaghan
During plenary In July 2024, Akpoti-Uduaghan commented on a motion without Akpabio’s consent. In his attempt to correct her, he said the Senate was not a nightclub where anybody could talk anyhow.
Akpabio bowed to pressure as he apologised to Akpoti-Uduaghan two days later for comparing her conduct in the Senate to that of a nightclub.
The ICIR reported that the Senate President’s comment caused social media outrage as Nigerians criticised him for the action and described his attitudes towards female senators as not only insulting but a denigration of the female gender and an attempt to stifle female voices.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.