Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, chairman of the Senate Media and Public Affairs Committee, dismissed the S3xual Harassment charge against Senate Chairman Godswill Akpabio, calling them “a storm in a teacup.”
Senator Natasha Akputti-Udoagen has no formal petition to investigate the Senate Ethics Committee, Code of Conduct and Public Petition Committee, Adaramodu said during a morning show on Monday on Arise TV.
He stressed that the Senate would not respond to claims made on TV because its proceedings were strictly conducted in the Red Room.
“The Senate does not conduct its business based on trends on social media. Before any investigation by the Senate, a formal petition or question raised must be filed before the Senate.”
Adaramodu said that in the uproar caused by the redistribution of seats, Senator Akpoti-uduaghan must abide by the Senate’s rules as legislator.
Adaramodu, citing the Senate President’s Order No. 6, which grants the Senate President the power to allocate seats to the senators, declares that all lawmakers should speak from designated seats and that any violation of this rule will destroy the order in the room.
He argued that if a senator follows due process to raise the point of order, no Senate president would deny his or her approval. He also denied that the Senate president could refusal to acknowledge his colleagues’ opinions, saying that all senators are equal in the chamber.
A Senate spokesman also ally with his colleagues, who rejected a call from former Senate President Bukola Saraki, asking Senator Godswill Akpabio to succumb to a public inquiry to clear his name and remove the Senate as an institution from allegations by Senator Akpoti-uduaghan.
“At present, there is no formal matter in the Senate regarding these allegations. The only issue with Senate Senate Natasha’s failure to comply with conventional orders.”
