{"id":20381,"date":"2025-10-11T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=20381"},"modified":"2025-10-11T10:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T09:53:13","slug":"no-member-can-hold-senate-hostage-akpabio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/11\/no-member-can-hold-senate-hostage-akpabio\/","title":{"rendered":"No Member Can Hold Senate Hostage \u2013 Akpabio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\"><strong>ABUJA, Nigeria (FN)<\/strong>\u2014 Senate President Godswill Akpabio has issued a firm statement defending the authority and discipline of the Nigerian Senate, declaring that no individual lawmaker will be allowed to hold the chamber hostage. His remarks, released through his media aide Eseme Eyiboh under the title <em>\u201cThe Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria\u2019s 10th Senate,\u201d<\/em> come amid renewed tensions surrounding Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s contested return from suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe Senate cannot and will not be held hostage by the disruptive instincts of any of its members,\u201d Akpabio said. \u201cDemocracy thrives only when its institutions are respected and its rules upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Though Akpabio did not name any specific senator, his comments follow Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s reentry into the chamber after a six-month suspension she continues to challenge. Her return has sparked debate over legislative discipline, free expression, and the balance of power within the National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Akpabio emphasized that enforcing parliamentary rules is not about silencing dissent but about preserving order and institutional integrity. He drew parallels with other advanced democracies, citing the British House of Commons, Canadian Parliament, and Australian Senate as examples where defiance of parliamentary authority carries swift consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe discipline of parliamentary conduct is a universal marker of political civilisation,\u201d Akpabio said. \u201cIn the UK\u2019s House of Commons, the authority of the Speaker is absolute and unchallenged. No member, regardless of party or popularity, may openly defy the Speaker\u2019s ruling without consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He defended the Senate\u2019s Standing Orders as essential tools of governance, not symbolic relics. \u201cThey are the living constitution of the institution, carefully designed to preserve fairness, consistency, and the sanctity of the legislative process,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Akpabio\u2019s statement comes at a time when Nigeria\u2019s democratic institutions are under increasing scrutiny. The 10th Senate has faced criticism over transparency, internal cohesion, and its handling of disciplinary matters. Akpabio\u2019s leadership style\u2014marked by firmness and calls for unity\u2014has drawn both praise and pushback from lawmakers and civil society groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In response to the statement, some senators have expressed support for Akpabio\u2019s stance, citing the need for decorum and collective responsibility. Others have warned against conflating order with suppression, arguing that dissent is a vital part of democratic debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Akpabio concluded by reaffirming the Senate\u2019s role as a stabilizing force. \u201cFreedom within order is the truest form of democracy,\u201d he said. \u201cStrong legislatures endure not by silencing dissent, but by ensuring that dissent respects the bounds of procedure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The controversy surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s suspension and return continues to unfold, with legal and political implications likely to shape the Senate\u2019s internal dynamics in the months ahead. A formal review of the suspension process is reportedly underway, though no timeline has been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABUJA, Nigeria (FN)\u2014 Senate President Godswill Akpabio has issued a firm statement defending the authority and discipline of the Nigerian Senate, declaring that no individual lawmaker will be allowed to hold the chamber hostage. His remarks, released through his media aide Eseme Eyiboh under the title \u201cThe Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria\u2019s 10th [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Senate-President-Godswill-Akpabio.jpg?fit=700%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20383,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381\/revisions\/20383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}