Some All Progressives Congress (APC) senators yesterday staged a walkout from the chamber in protest of the ascension of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to the platform to preside over the plenary in the absence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Saraki had gone to the Presidential Villa to attend the swearing in of new ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari and consequently asked Ekweremadu to preside over the plenary.
However, the arrival of Ekweremadu into the chamber to preside over the session, irritated some APC senators who said they would not sit and watch a member of the minority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) preside over the APC majority-controlled chamber.
They accused Saraki of handing over the Senate to Ekweremadu who preside over the plenary for the first time since June 9 when himself and Saraki were elected as the presiding officers of the Senate.
The aggrieved senators who walked out of the chamber vowed not to attend any plenary session presided over by Ekweremadu. The development quickly got to Saraki in the Villa and consequently, he hastened down to take over from Ekweremadu, a situation that never occurred when Ekweremadu was Senator David Mark’s deputy.
In the days of Mark as senate president, he never returned to the chamber to take over from Ekweremadu even when he returned to the Senate before the end of plenary. Instead, Mark would go straight to his office to enable Ekweremadu preside all through. But Saraki was compelled to return to the chamber to take over the plenary to avoid brewing crisis.
APC senators who walked out on Wednesday included the Chief Whip, Senators Sola Adeyeye, Abu Ibrahim, Oluremi Tinubu, Suleiman Kunkuyi, among others. Notwithstanding, the plenary continued as many other APC senators, including the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, his deputy, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; Kabiru Gaya , Binta Masi Garba, Shehu Sani among others remained in the chamber while Ekweremadu presided. Read Full Gist @This DayLive
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