Godswill Akpabio, the Nigerian Senate’s president, has been warned that failure to step down could result in impeachment.
The demand was made by the National Democratic Coalition’s (NADECO) United States of America (USA) branch in a statement given to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday by its executive director, Lloyd Ukwu, Esq.
According to the allegation, Akpabio had turned the upper legislative chamber into an extension of the presidential residence, turning the MPs into a rubber stamp for anything President Bola Tinubu and the executive wanted.
In administering the Senate’s business, the Senate President was also charged with naivete, immaturity, and high-handedness, which put the National Assembly in jeopardy.
The group also charged Akpabio with disrespecting his National Assembly coworkers and utter contempt for the Senate’s Standing Rules, which govern the Senate’s order of business, lively plenary debates, and in-depth examination of executive communications and Bills.
Since the start of the 10th National Assembly, according to NADECO, Akpabio frequently starts plenaries late and unnecessarily prolongs the time of the session while failing to allow time for reasonable legislative inputs from the parliamentarians on important issues.
However, Akpabio enjoys delaying reading communications from the President that are intended to be read during announcement time until the very end of plenary, as he recently did when he announced the President’s final three ministerial nominees toward the end of plenary.
“Only recently, the Senate’s chief whip, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC – Borno South), and senator Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (SDP – Nasarawa South), publicly accused Akpabio of failing to give senators enough time to question and examine bills, particularly money bills, and warned that history would judge him for approving executive requests and passing significant legislation quickly.
Akpabio recently transformed a senator’s remark to ‘let Nigerians breathe’ into a pun, which drew scornful laughter from his colleagues during a plenary session. This behavior demonstrated his lack of empathy for the poor and suffering masses of Nigerians.
In a clear violation of the relevant provisions of the constitution, which give senators the authority to freely choose presiding officers at their first sitting regardless of ranking, he recently forced an amendment to the Senate Standing Rules to the effect that no first-term senator is eligible to run for the position of presiding officer.
Additionally, he mobilizes Senators to support proposals even when they have not seen or may never see the facts. Above all, he treats senators disrespectfully and speaks to them in a dictatorial manner while still donning his former toga as the executive governor of Akwa Ibom State Government House, Uyo.
NADECO, a group that maintains that Akpabio is unfit to serve as Senate President, has threatened to organize its members in the United States and Nigerians living abroad for a large-scale protest if the former Akwa Ibom Governor does not step down and the senators do not impeach him.
It further stated that the group would use its influence to pressure governments and international organizations to refuse to recognize the Akpabio-led Nigerian Senate.
“NADECO USA has received a number of petitions criticizing Akpabio and his servile leadership style as the 10th Senate President.
Since the US Congress and other parliamentary bodies across the world currently view the Nigerian Senate under Akpabio as a serious and responsible institution, we are prepared to take the necessary steps to guarantee that this does not change.
We will also exert pressure to prevent the 10th Senate, led by Akpabio, from receiving the proper recognition from the world community.
It is sad that Akpabio has turned the National Assembly into an appendage of the Presidential Villa since taking office.
Ukwu claimed that “he has colluded with the executive to approve loans and other unfavorable requests without following due process or adequately allowing Senators to make pertinent input through vigorous debate.”
