A mild drama played out in the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers initially kicked against a move by the Senate leadership to admit governors and senior government officials into the chamber to observe proceedings on the State Police Bill.
The visitors included the governors of Ogun, Ondo and Kaduna states, Dapo Abiodun, Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Uba Sani, respectively.
The delegation also included the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Officials had wanted to access the chamber to witness deliberations and voting on the Constitution Alteration Bill, which sought to establish state police across the federation.
Other members of the delegation were Attorneys-General and Commissioners for Justice from Ondo, Anambra and Akwa Ibom states.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio appealed to senators at the start of proceedings to allow the visitors, whom he referred to as “strangers,” in the chamber.
Following Akpabio’s appeal, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, moved a motion invoking Order 1(b) of the Senate Standing Rules which allows non-members to be admitted into the chamber under special circumstances.
Senators overwhelmingly rejected the motion when it was put to a voice vote.
The rejection seemed to take the Senate leadership by surprise and Akpabio appealed again to his colleagues to accommodate the visitors.
Akpabio thereafter asked Bamidele to return with the motion, which was seconded by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.
When the motion was again put to a voice vote, Akpabio only called for the “Ayes,” which were noticeably fewer than the senators present in the chamber.
As the dissenting voices grew louder, the Senate President did not call for the “Nays,” which seemed to be in the majority.
He decided at once in favour of the motion, and brought down the gavel.
The decision allowed the governors, ministers and other officials waiting outside the chamber to come in and watch the proceedings on the State Police Bill.
The incident briefly exposed the growing tension between some governors and senators from their states.
Some senators were said to be unhappy with governors who allegedly used their political clout to deny them re-election tickets ahead of the 2027 general election.
The State Police Bill is one of the major constitutional amendment proposals before the National Assembly as insecurity worsens across the country.
