After Impeachment Speculation, Senate Takes Bold Steps On Akpabio, Others

After the impeachment speculations about the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, the Nigerian Senate has passed a vote of confidence on him and the entire leadership of the Red chamber.

It was gathered that the Senators passed the vote of confidence during plenary on Thursday.

The resolution came under a matter of privilege raised by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi representing Kebbi North.

He was speaking against the backdrop of social media reports over the alleged impeachment of the President of the Senate by Northern Senators.

Senator Abdullahi, who considered his privilege breached, described the allegations as an attempt to cause division and discord along ethnic or regional lines within the Senate.

The lawmaker noted that the upper chamber must rise against any connivance to negate the unity thus far enjoyed, bring the leadership down and the Senate to ridicule.

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Reports had emerged online yesterday alleging that Department of State Services (DSS) operatives stormed the National Assembly (NASS) complex on Wednesday amid a plot to impeach the Senate President.

The report highlighted growing speculations that a faction of disgruntled northern senators, reportedly dissatisfied with President Bola Tinubu, is attempting to revive a previous initiative to oust Akpabio from his position.

Reacting, Akpabio debunked the viral report speculating a plot for his potential impeachment.

“We are here, sitting peacefully, doing our work, oblivious to the mischief happening behind us.

“If they have a lot of traffic… Whoever brought out this fake news must be getting a lot of payment because of the traffic going on. I hope the public understands that this is totally fake news and the chamber is very stable and the issue of impeachment does not come up,” Akpabio said while debunking the report during plenary on Wednesday.

“This kind of falsehood is part of what we face daily. They use AI to manipulate stories, probably to drive traffic and earn money from platforms like YouTube,” the Senate President added.

Akpabio immediately referred the fake news to the Committee on Special Duties for further investigation.

In a swift reaction, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, Shehu Kaka, pledged to investigate the matter and report back to the Senate.