Ekweremadu bars reading the notice of defection by 11 senators.

The Senate on January 30, 2014, Thursday deferred the request by Sen. Bukola Saraki that the notice of

Sen. Saraki said that it was important for the letter to be read on the floor to formally inform the Senate of their defection to the opposition.

However, the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, said the matter could not be discussed because the Senate President, Sen. David Mark, was absent.

Sen. Ekweremadu informed that he has been already instructed by Mark that a meeting with the defecting senators had been scheduled for next Monday.

He also added that the matter should be left until the Senate President returned from his trip out of Abuja.

Unfortunately, this explanation was not sufficient for Sen. Saraki. It led to an exchange of words, as Saraki was insisting that the issue of the letter had nothing to do with Mark’s intention to meet with the Senators.

Sen. Danjuma Goje also rose up to insist that the notification letter should be read because he and 10 other Senators had defected from the PDP to APC.

This threw the chamber into confusion with PDP and APC senators engaging each other in a shouting match.

The Deputy Senate President further addressed Sen. Goje, explained him that the decision to defer the matter had already been taken because he (Ekweremadu) was not in possession of the letter.

Also speaking, the Senate Minority Leader Sen. George Akume (APC-Benue) argued that there was no reason to delay their request since a similar matter had taken place in the House of Representatives.

Sen. Ekweremadu was adamant, advised other senators to shelve the matter and continue debate on the 2014 Appropriation Bill.

(NAN) 

Source: Legit.ng