Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has assured that he will mobilise senators from the Niger Delta region to tackle the lingering political crisis in Rivers State.
Speaking on Friday in Abuja, Akpabio made this declaration while receiving a delegation from the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Forum, who visited him on a solidarity mission.
Naijaonpoint reports that the Senate President pledged to collaborate with other lawmakers from the region to ensure that lasting peace is restored in Rivers State and other sub-national entities experiencing similar political tensions.
The political unrest in Rivers State continues to escalate following the Supreme Court’s decision to halt the state’s allocation of funds until a legitimate House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, is constituted.Followingo the ruling, the Rivers State House of Assembly, under Amaewhule’s leadership, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the 2025 budget before the House. The deadline expired at midnight on Wednesday.
Additionally, the Assembly directed Governor Fubara to sack all commissioners and political appointees, urging him to submit a fresh list of commissioner-nominees for screening.
Akpabio Warns Critics Over Senate Decisions
Akpabio also took a swipe at what he described as “armchair critics”, urging them to refrain from making uninformed comments on the activities of the Senate.
According to him, individuals not well-versed in parliamentary rules should desist from attacking the Upper Chamber.
His remarks come on the heels of the Senate’s recent suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, for allegedly flouting Senate rules.
Akpabio expressed surprise at the level of public criticism over the decision, questioning why no one was interested in understanding why the Senate unanimously agreed to suspend Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“You should try to go and know the facts before you start running commentaries on television. We advise members of the public to desist from running commentaries on things they do not know, misquoting the rules of the Senate,” he said.
Niger Delta’s Stake In Senate Leadership
In response to remarks by the leader of the delegation, Jonathan Lokpobiri Snr, who noted that it had been 46 years since a Niger Delta Senator last held the position of Senate President, Akpabio assured that the people of the region would not take the position lightly.
He said, “The Senate President of today is not representing himself alone. He is representing a people who are very crucial to the economic life wire of this country.
“So when people gang up and conspire, I hear voices from Adamawa shouting, I hear voices from Kwara State shouting, I hear some young people from the southwest being used for something they don’t know, they don’t know the rules of the Senate, you cant be a herbalist and start quoting the Bible, you won’t know what to quote.
“If you have not studied the Bible or you have nothing to do with Christianity, you cannot claim to know the bible more than the Pope. In the same vein, if you are not an Imam, you cannot begin to quote the Quran.
“But you see people who are not well informed, sitting down just like they do, like football commentators and then they will say Ronaldo should have come from the left to score and that if you were Messi, you would have kicked from the centre. Then you do commentaries on the television.
“But things that have to do with the hallowed chamber of the National Assembly, you cannot begin to quote what you have never seen. It is only when you are elected to be a senator or a member of the House of Representatives, after your inauguration, the first thing that will be given to you is the Red Book.
“That Red Book contains the Standing Orders that will maintain discipline and decorum and also show you step by step approach to lawmaking which you must study and follow. In the House of Representatives, they will give you a Green Book to signify the Green Chamber.
“But when people are not well informed about the procedures and begin to debate about the provisions they don’t know, sometimes it worries me.
“So your concern about the current situation is well understood. We have our internal mechanism of settling issues and this issue, we have settled and we will continue to settle.”