For more than twenty-five minutes Wednesday, the Senate plenary was held amidst rowdiness over sitting arrangement.
Trouble started when the former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, now of All Progressives Congress (APC) from Akwa Ibom North West called for recognition to speak, but the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki refused him on the grounds that he cannot speak, using another Senator’s microphone to speak.
According to Saraki, Akpabio can also not speak from a seat where there was no microphone.
Akpabio stood up to speak shortly after the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Akwa Ibom North East, had raised the alarm of alleged plans by the APC in the State to cause mayhem and to ensure that the 2019 general elections do not hold in the state, which has before now been adjudged one of the most peaceful states in the country.
Saraki refused Akpabio to use the microphone of the former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, just as he said that since the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State was sitting on a seat which has no microphone, there was no way he would be allowed to raise any issue there.
For this reason, the hallowed chamber became very rowdy as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Senator Emmanuel Paulker, who made frantic efforts to speak on the issue, could not speak.
It would be recalled that Akpabio resigned as the Minority Leader of the Senate in August having dumped the PDP for the APC.
The rowdy session however was believed to have erupted because of obvious deprivation inflicted on Akpabio to defend his party which had been alleged with plans of to cause mayhem by a PDP senator from his state.
