Goje confronts Akpabio over repeated side meetings during plenary

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

Drama unfolded on the floor of the Senate yesterday after Gombe Central senator, Danjuma Goje, challenged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for repeatedly stalling proceedings to hold private discussions with selected lawmakers during plenary.

Akpabio had walked into the chamber at about 12:10pm while Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, was already presiding and immediately took over the session as senators considered scheduled bills.

But barely 10 minutes later, he beckoned on the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, for a private conversation at the presiding seat.

What began as a quiet exchange quickly escalated, as other senators, including Asuquo Ekpenyong, Adamu Aliero, Jimoh Ibrahim, Titus Zam and Deputy Senate President, Barau, trooped towards the Senate President’s desk. Their movement brought plenary to a halt for more than 40 minutes.

With lawmakers scattered across the chamber holding side conversations, the floor descended into near-chaos, prompting Goje to protest what he described as an ‘unparliamentary’ disruption.

Citing Order 55 of the Senate Standing Rules, which bars interruptions to proceedings, the former governor warned Akpabio against turning plenary into a venue for private caucuses.

“Interaction not allowed… What is happening now is unparliamentary. What you’re doing now is unparliamentary,” Mr Goje said pointedly. “You should have taken this meeting outside. Everything is at a standstill now. We’re not doing our actual business. We should go on recess; when we’re ready, we’ll come back and meet you.”

In response, Akpabio defended his action, saying the discussions were necessary because those gathered had been invited to deliberate on an urgent assignment slated for 1pm at the Presidential Villa.

“Everybody that you’re seeing here was invited by the chair for a brief discussion in line with the order you’ve just read, whether or not we should proceed in view of a very urgent assignment at the Villa by 1 o’clock,” he said.

The Senate President then asked him to approach the chair and join the meeting, an offer which the Gombe senator rejected. “I don’t want to be part of it,” he replied curtly.

Akpabio has, on several occasions, paused plenary or kept senators waiting, while he holds private consultations at the presiding seat, an action many lawmakers privately grumble violates parliamentary procedure. Yesterday’s incident was one of the rare moments a senator confronted him openly on the floor.