Impeachment: Senators Pass Confidence Vote in Akpabio

*House’s support for Abbas unquestionable, says deputy spokespersonSunday Aborisade and Juliet Akoje in Abuja

Senators at plenary, yesterday, passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of the Senate led by its President, Godswill Akpabio.

At the same time, the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon Philip Agbese, has pledged the readiness of his colleagues to continue to support the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, in his quest of leading the 10th House to deliver on its Legislative Agenda.

The Senate resolution followed a motion by a former Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, who raised a point of order to draw the attention of his colleagues to a news report, which indicated that northern senators were plotting to impeach Akpabio.

Abdullahi, who is representing Kebbi North Senatorial District, denied his involvement, or that of any member of the Northern Senators Forum in the alleged plot.

He said, “I am senior member of the Northern Senators’ Forum and I can assure you that there is no attempt by any caucus among the northern senators to bring discord or any attempt to challenge the unity of what you are doing in the Senate.

“My privilege has been breached. Anybody trying to bring division across any regional line is undermining the progress of our democracy and undermining the capacity of this institution to deliver to deliver in the presence of governors of this country.

“Therefore, we must rise and get united under the leadership to ensure that this kind of discourse is completely negated, so that the kind of unity that we have forged in the last 18 months can be sustained and fully accomplished.”

Agbese, who lauded the speaker’s ‘humility’ stated that his legislative intelligence and resolve to carry members along regardless of party affiliations was responsible for the unity in the House.

The lawmaker while briefing journalists noted that though lawmakers in the House were elected on the platform of eight different political parties, the unity in the legislative chamber was non-negotiable.

“People have asked me the secret to the unity in the House but what I tell them is this: ‘The Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives is a humble leader, whose kind is very rare in this part of the world. We are fully behind him because his leadership is infectious.

“Unlike what obtained in the past where members were divided along party lines, we are one in our determination to make governance count for Nigerians.

“All lawmakers whether they came to the House on the platform of APC, PDP, APGA, LP, SDP, ADC or YPP are unanimous in their belief that through effective legislation, our people back home can be happier than they are today.”