A heated altercation erupted at the Senate on Thursday as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central protested against an unexpected seat change in the chamber.
The drama unfolded when Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was moved from her designated seat in the second-to-last row of the minority section to the last row, without prior consent.
The senator immediately resisted the change, insisting on returning to her former seat, which clashed with Senate regulations that require senators to sit in designated seats in order to be recognized.
The situation escalated when the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, cited Section 6(1) of the Senate Standing Rules, which grants the Senate president the authority to assign or reassign seats as deemed necessary.
Monguno defended the seat change, attributing it to recent defections by opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He warned Akpoti-Uduaghan that failing to comply with the seating arrangement could lead to penalties, including being barred from engaging in Senate discussions.
Despite the warning, Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan remained defiant and was not deterred.
When the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, upheld the Chief Whip’s position and ruled against her, she raised her hand in protest but was denied permission to speak, as per Senate protocols.
“I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege,” she declared, her voice growing louder as the tension mounted in the chamber.
In response, Akpabio swiftly cut off her microphone and ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her from the chamber.
Security officers were dispatched to escort the senator out, but Akpoti-Uduaghan resisted, continuing to voice her discontent.
Several of her colleagues attempted to mediate and calm her, but she stood firm in her protest.
Amid the chaos, Akpabio, perhaps in an attempt to downplay the confrontation, compared the situation to the South African Parliament, where opposition leader Julius Malema is often involved in similar disputes.
Akpabio remarked, “When the chamber was renovated, one of the things I said was that I hope the renovation will not turn us into South African Parliament, where you hear Malema sit down, Malema sit down.”
The Senate President also reflected on his past experiences, recalling a similar incident during the 8th Senate when he, too, had protested a seat change.
He humorously suggested that a return to the old microphone system might help restore order, preventing senators from speaking out of turn.
“So, unfortunately, we need to go back to our old microphone system so that people will not speak out of order, and they’ll not speak when they are not recognised,” he quipped.
As the dust settled, it was clear that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s defiance had drawn attention to the ongoing tensions in the Senate, particularly as defections and seat reassignments continue to shape the political landscape.
In the end, Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan was escorted out, but her protest, though unsuccessful in changing her seating, will likely be remembered as another chapter in the ongoing drama of Nigerian legislative politics.
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