JUST IN: Senators Fight Over Seats In Newly Renovated Chamber


The plenary commenced at about 11:00am after the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, arrived the chamber and took his seat.
The executive session commenced by 12:05pm.

Following a contentious argument among three senators, the upper parliamentary chamber saw a boisterous session on Tuesday.
Senators, Danjuma Goje of Gombe Central and Sahabi Yau of Zamfara North complained to majority leader Opeyemi Bamidele about their seats being allocated to them.
After two years of renovations, the Senate is already using its renovated chamber.
Senators are required to sit in order of rank under the upper parliamentary chamber’s standing rules.
The senate’s Easter and Sallah recess was postponed to accommodate the completion of the renovation of both chambers of the national assembly.
However, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio read his welcome address, the heated argument among the three senators began.
It was learnt that Goje and Yau, sitting on the second row on the right side of the aisle, did not like the seats allocated to them by the senate committee on services.
Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, is chair of the senate services committee.
The four-term senators subsequently insisted that they should have been assigned seats on the front row on the extreme right — opposite the row of the majority leader and the deputy senate president.
After the argument, Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano south, called for a “point of order” which was ignored.
Thereafter, Bamidele moved a motion for a closed-session, which the senate is currently in.

 

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