Tag: Senate

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At 65, Nigeria on the right track — Akpabio

President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has declared that Nigeria is moving in the right direction as President Bola Tinubu’s reforms are beginning to yield positive results.

The former Akwa Ibom State governor also dismissed claims that Nigeria is “finished” or irredeemable, insisting the country is on the right track under Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Akpabio made the appeal in a congratulatory message to mark the country’s 65th Independence Anniversary.

The Federal Government had earlier declared Wednesday, October 1, a public holiday to commemorate the country’s independence from Britain in 1960.

However, in a late announcement on Monday, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation disclosed that the traditional Independence Day parade would no longer be held.

The statement read: “At 65, we are mature and should be working for the unity of the nation and prosperity of our people. We salute your resilience, patience and endurance in the last two years. We deeply appreciate your support and understanding.

“In line with the theme of this year’s celebration, ‘All hands are on deck for a greater Nigeria,’ I urge you to continue to bear the temporary discomfort of the ongoing reforms.

“We are not unaware of the pains occasioned by the reforms. But I want to assure you that very soon, this will be a thing of the past because the benefits of the reforms are beginning to manifest positively.”

Continuing, the Senate president urged Nigerians to endure the pains of the reforms for a little while longer in the interest of the future generations.

Akpabio also dismissed insinuations by critics of the current administration that the country has finished running its course.

“I must tell you that Nigeria is not finished. Do not buy into the mischievous narrative that Nigeria is irredeemable.

“We are on the right pedestal and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu’s administration is reshaping the country; we are growing and making progress.

“If we all join hands together to support the reforms, Nigeria will become better and surely get to the promised land,” he stated. (Punch)

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Buhari left his boots in corridors of power – Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday paid tribute to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as a man of discipline and integrity who left a lasting imprint on Nigeria’s leadership.

Speaking during the special session of the Expanded Federal Executive Council meeting held in Buhari’s honour, Akpabio said the former president may not have been perfect, but he stood firmly for discipline, honour and patriotism.

“President Buhari did not merely pass through the corridors of power. He left his boots and his imprints in them. Buhari was not perfect. No leader is. But he was principled. He stood for something.

‘In a world where it is easy to chase headlines, he chose instead to chase honour. Where others sought glory, he sought duty,” Akpabio said.

The Senate President, who once served as a minister under Buhari’s administration, described the late leader as austere and unflamboyant, yet driven by a deep sense of duty and patriotism.

Akpabio said, “As a minister in his cabinet, appointed by him, I saw President Buhari unplugged. He was not flamboyant—far from it. His voice was measured. His steps, deliberate. His public demeanour, austere.

“But beneath that calm exterior beat the heart of a patriot—unyielding, unbending, and utterly uninterested in personal comfort when duty called.”

He added that Buhari’s legacy was not only in his achievements but also in the moral standard he upheld in governance.

“He believed that discipline mattered. That integrity mattered. That leadership, even when lonely, must be anchored in something greater than power,” he stated.

Akpabio acknowledged that Buhari’s style may have attracted criticism but maintained that even his critics could not question his moral uprightness.

He said, “Let us be honest—he was tough. He was a soldier who did not flinch under fire, a leader who did not flee from responsibility, and above all, a Nigerian whose loyalty to this nation was never up for sale.

“And yes, some disagreed with him. That is the nature of democracy. But even his fiercest critics will admit: he did not pilfer the nation’s purse, nor pander to its pleasures. He remained, to the very end, a sentinel of Spartan simplicity and austere integrity.”

Akpabio concluded that Buhari’s name would be remembered in history not for flamboyance or fanfare, but for his resolute commitment to national duty.

“Let it be said by generations to come, that a man once walked this land with a firm gait, a steady gaze, and an iron sense of duty. His name was Muhammadu Buhari,” he stated. (Punch)

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Court orders Senate to recall suspended Natasha

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate acted beyond its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her immediate recall to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgment, described the duration of the suspension as “excessive” and without a clear legal foundation.

According to the court, both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the upper chamber relied upon, do not stipulate a maximum suspension period. As such, they were deemed overreaching in this case.

The judge pointed out that since the National Assembly is only required to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for roughly that same length of time effectively silences the voice of an entire constituency—a move she described as unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court sided with Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on a separate issue, stating that his refusal to allow Akpoti-Uduaghan to speak during a plenary—on the grounds that she was not seated in her designated chair—did not amount to a violation of her rights.

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary had no business interfering in what he called an “internal affair” of the legislature, stating that fundamental rights and representation are matters squarely within the court’s purview.

In a twist, the court imposed a monetary penalty on Akpoti-Uduaghan for breaching a prior court directive that barred both parties from making public statements about the ongoing legal matter.

The fine runs into millions of naira. (Punch)