There was a brief moment of tension in the Senate on Tuesday when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and his Deputy, Jibrin Barau, disagreed over United States President Donald Trump’s warning of possible military action against terrorists in Nigeria following claims of a Christian-targeted genocide in certain parts of the country.
While referring to a publication by a social media outlet, RANT HQ, which alleged that he dismissed Trump’s stance on Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), Akpabio clarified after plenary that he had never spoken against the U.S. President. He explained that his role was only to communicate the collective decision of the Senate regarding such issues.
The online platform had attributed the following statement to the Senate President: “The killing is taking place in Nigeria not in the USA, Trump should focus on US. Nigerians are not complaining about the killings, we are fully satisfied with the condition of Nigeria.”
“Who am I to answer Trump,” Akpabio stated. Barau immediately replied, saying, “I’m not scared of Trump. I will say my mind. I’m a Nigerian. Nigeria is a sovereign nation. I’m a parliamentarian.”
He added: “I’m the Deputy Senate President, I can speak. I’m not scared of Trump. Don’t be scared of Trump. You can say your mind about Trump. We are a sovereign nation.”
Following this exchange, Akpabio instructed the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, to remove Barau’s comments from the day’s official record, emphasizing that they did not reflect the position of the entire Senate.
The disagreement between the two leaders became evident during Akpabio’s rebuttal of the remarks attributed to him by RANT HQ regarding the killings in Nigeria, which he labeled as a “malicious and completely fabricated post.”
“Somebody will sit in the comfort of his room and produce a report and fake pictures of 2023 when the Senate President with Senators visited Port Harcourt on a very different thing and say, oh, Senate President answers President Trump, who am I to answer President Trump?
“That the Senate President said that Nigerians are not complaining, that we like the way we are living. That Nigerians are not complaining.
“I’ve petitioned the police. I’ve also petitioned the DSS. It is the presidency that will answer President Trump. And all Nigerians are doing their best in that direction. But who is that person that will go and ascribe a comment to the Senate President when he was never met?
“So I believe the Cybercrimes Unit of the Police, the DSS and others, should find that character out, because it is meant to cause friction. It is meant to cause friction and put the Nigerian Senate in disrepute.
“Social media should not break Nigeria,” Akpabio stressed.
However, he said that the Senate would respond when the direction of the executive is known.
Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it.
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.
