SENATE spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, on Friday, faulted the action of his colleague, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over a seating arrangement dispute in the hallowed chamber.
Natasha, who represents Kogi Central under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had on Thursday, refused to use the seat allocated to her, citing Order 10 of the Senate Standing Rules, which protects the privileges of members.
At the height of the situation, Senate President Godswill Akpabio called on Senate security to walk the female lawmaker out of the chambers, but fellow lawmakers’ intervention saved the situation from degenerating out of hand.
Reacting to the incident during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily monitored by News Point Nigeria, Adaramodu said the upper chamber is for serious business.
“What we are saying is that the National Assembly is not for content creation in entertainment. National Assembly is for serious business,” he said.
Adaramodu, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District, also dismissed Senator Natasha’s allegations of bullying.
“If she is talking like that being bullied or sidelined, as a first-timer, she even had three committees that she was appointed as chairman.
“You are entitled to only committee to be the chairman and she is in charge of Foreign Affairs, NGOs now,” the Senate spokesman said.
But the Senate spokesperson ruled out disciplinary measures against her. He said her colleagues from Kogi State, especially Senator Isah Jubril “had already tendered an apology on her behalf”.
He assured that the 10th Senate wouldn’t revisit the issue following the apology on Akpoti-Uduaghan’s behalf.
“The Senate as a whole has already accepted that tendered apology, so we are not going to revisit that,” Adaramodu stated.
Weighing in on the issue, the Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, claimed Akpabio did not allow Senator Natasha to be heard.
According to her, Senator Natasha was not allowed to speak as permitted in Order 10 of the Senate Standing Rules.
“I felt for me, that in itself showed that there was even little tolerance to the little agitation she had presented,” she said on the show, citing a 2018 incident when Akpabio had a similar issue with then-Senate President Bukola Saraki.
“We have seen tougher and angrier agitations by Senators and no one has questioned them for being too agree,” the Yiaga director argued, saying Senator Natasha, “wasn’t violent, she wasn’t insulting. She kept making reference to an order in their rule book and she was speaking based on it.”