- Safiu Kehinde
The Joint Committee meeting with ministers for budget defence on Wednesday was spiced with drama and tensed moments as Kogi state lawmaker, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan , and his Ebonyi state counterpart, Sen. Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, clashed with the committee chairman, Sen. Rufai Hanga.
In what was largely a heated session between the lawmakers and the ministers, the drama however started during the defence of the N3.4 trillion budget by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.
According to reports, a heated exchange initially ensued between Senator Adams Oshiomhole and Umahi over the controversial reassignment of the Abuja–Kaduna Road project from Julius Berger to a lesser-known firm, MAIKANO.
Umahi challenged lawmakers to inspect the project, vowing to resign if it is found substandard.
Nwaebonyi would be involved in the fiasco after being stopped mid-speech by the Committee Chairman, Hanga.
This led to a shouting match as Nwaebonyi could slammed the Committee Chairman for silencing him.
Video shared on X showed the lawmaker challenging Hanga before being brought to order by other lawmakers.
“You can’t shout at me.” Hanga said amid the argument.
“I can shout at you. I spoke for five minutes. Somebody spoke for 15 minutes. I can presiding over this meeting.” Nwaebonyi fired back.
Hanga refused to backdown as he claimed he was duly elected with votes more that Nwaebonyis.
“I was elected 10 times your vote. I came through election.” The Kano lawmaker said.
The contest however continued until intervention from other lawmakers both from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Decorum for restored for the meantime until another outburst ensued between Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Steel, Sen. Patrick Ndubueze.
The clash occurred towards the end of the Ministry of Steel Development Budget Defence.
Ndubueze was reported to have denied Akpoti-Uduaghan the opportunity to engage the Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Abubakar Audu.
Senator Natasha sought Ndubueze’s permission to ask what she described as vital questions.
However, Ndubueze denied her the opportunity to ask the questions and struck the gavel to bring the session to an end.
A visibly disappointed Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Ndubueze of disrespecting her and disclosed that the committee had not been given enough opportunity to engage the minister.
“I have something to say. Please, will you mind if I do so?” Natasha said.
In response, Ndubueze said, “Distinguished, please let’s call it a day.”
As she attempted to engage the minister, Ndubueze again struck the gavel.
“Mr Chairman, please don’t hit the gavel. I still have something to say, and I think you should respect me enough.”
Ndubueze responded while striking the gavel again: “I have given you respect. Mr Minister, your time is up. Thank you.”
“That is fine. You have disrespected me more than enough. You can’t do this to me. I have something very vital to ask the minister, and it doesn’t matter if I have spoken once or twice.
“This is an interactive session, and you agree that we have not met with the minister enough. Only God knows when next we’re going to meet with him as a committee.” Natasha fired back.