On Thursday, July 11, the upper legislative chamber was taken aback with a heated argument during plenary between Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and his predecessor, Senator Ahmed Lawan.
The shouting match was over the official sitting time of the Red Chamber.
According to Senate rules, the official commencement time for the Senate plenary is 10:00am, however, there are allegations that it is now common practice for sessions to start much later in the 10th Senate, often around 11:00am or even later, due to the lateness of the lawmakers.
On Thursday, the Senate, through a motion brought forward by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, sought to formally amend its rules to shift the official sitting time from 10:00am to 11:00am.
However, the move was opposed by Lawan.
The immediate past Senate President told Akpabio that the reason for changing the sitting time to synchronise with the House of Representatives—was not convincing or “scientific” enough.
He insisted that there were no substantial reasons to shift the sitting time and highlighted that lawmakers were more energetic in the early hours, making a 10 am start more productive.
“The explanation that the change was to enable the Senate to synchronise its sitting time with that of the House of Representatives is not saleable to senators,” Lawan stated as quoted by Tribune.
He added that pushing the sitting time to 11 am would extend the sessions till 3 pm, a time when committees should be actively working.
In response, the Senate President, Akpabio, reminded Lawan that the 11 am practice was inherited from Lawan’s 9th Senate.
This position was rejected by Lawan who stated that “No, that is not correct!”
Akpabio also clarified that starting at 11 am did not necessarily mean sessions would last until 3 pm, suggesting they could end by 1 pm instead.
As the back and forth continued, Senator Bamidele intervened, explaining that senators often had multiple engagements, including oversight duties and committee assignments, which sometimes kept them working late into the night, making a 10 am resumption challenging.
Akpabio swiftly called for an emergency executive session to address the issues privately following the rising tension among the Senators.