Drama as senators fight over seats in newly renovated chamber
By Matthew Eloyi
There was a mild drama at the resumption of the Senate to plenary on Tuesday as senators fought over seats in the newly renovated chamber.
The plenary had started around 11 am and immediately after the procession, the Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, read out announcements, specifically the names of the lawmakers who had celebrated their birthdays while the Senate was on break.
It was while the announcement was ongoing that Senator Sahabi Yau (APC, Zamfara North) started to raise his voice at the Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) while he in return pointed his finger at Yau as if giving him a stern warning.
Immediately, Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central) joined his colleague Yau in shouting at Bamidele and the chairman, of Senate Services, Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) who was in charge of the seating arrangements.
It was gathered that the fight was triggered by the seating arrangement in the newly renovated hallowed chamber.
Some ranking Senators were said to have been angry at the seats allocated to them in the front row on the last right side of the aisle.
The Senate President eventually told them to approach the chair one after the other but Yau didn’t oblige him.
The rowdy session lasted for about 20 minutes as senators bickered.
After the Senate President read his welcome-back speech, the Senate leader, moved that the Senate resolved into a closed-door session.
The Senate after that, at about 12: 05 pm resolved into an executive session.
The Senate had on March 20, adjourned plenary till April 16, but postponed resumption twice to allow for the completion of the chamber which had been under renovation since 2022.