The Senate was thrown into a rowdy session yesterday morning over the primaries conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State.
PDP member representing Akwa Ibom North-East senatorial district, Sen. Bassey Akpan, had raised a point of order to tell the Senate about how the APC primary conducted in the state was marred by violence and has threatened the peace in Akwa Ibom.
Former minority leader and ex-governor of Akwa Ibom, Sen.ย Godswill Akpabio, who recently defected from PDP to APC, raised a point of order apparently to respond to Akpan but was asked by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to move to the seat he was allocated if he wants to speak.
The Majority Leader and also an APC member, Sen. Ahmad Lawan and other APC members, protested, stating that Akpabio could speak from any seat within the chamber.
This led to a heated argument between the APC and PDP senators. During the exchange, Sen. Dino Melaye was seen going about, engaging APC senators in a war of words. Kabiru Marafa and some APC senators also rose to engage Melaye.
Efforts by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to intervene in the issue failed as the chamber became noisy.
Akpabio, who eventually relocated to the seat beside Ali Ndume, demanded an apology from Saraki for allegedly being embarrassed by the Senate President, which the presiding officer denied.
Akpabio and Saraki also had a debate on who allocated the seat to the Akwa Ibom senator but the former eventually said he would withhold his comment until the chamber had been reconfigured.
