Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said the National Assembly will not permit any member to hold the institution “hostage,” underlining the importance of discipline, following rules, and institutional integrity in safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy.
Akpabio made the assertion in a statement released on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Eseme Eyiboh, titled “The Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria’s 10th Senate.”
The Senate cannot and will not be held hostage by any of its members’ disruptive tendencies,” Akpabio said. “Democracy can only flourish when its institutions are obeyed and its rules respected.”
Though he did not mention any specific legislator, his remarks came amidst renewed publicity since the return of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) from a six-month suspension, which she is still contesting.
The Senate President explained that instituting discipline within the chamber is not an attempt to suppress divergent opinions but is necessitated by the need to maintain order and uphold the dignity of the legislature.
The law of parliamentary conduct is a universal mark of political civilisation,” he noted. “In the United Kingdom House of Commons, the authority of the Speaker is absolute and unchallengeable. No member, regardless of party or popularity, can disregard the ruling of the Speaker with immunity.”
He continued to note that Nigeria’s legislative procedures are neither archaic nor ceremonial, but essential frameworks intended to ensure fairness, order, and respect for leadership.
“The Standing Orders of the Nigerian Senate are not ceremonial artifacts,” Akpabio said. “They are living governance documents that guarantee the consistency and sanctity of the legislative process.”
Drawing comparisons with other parliaments across the globe, Akpabio defended the Senate’s right to sanction members who breach its rules. “In the world’s oldest parliaments, members who defy rules are quickly punished,” he stated. “In the British House of Commons, suspension or expulsion is not unusual where the conduct of a member is demeaning to parliamentary dignity.”
He referred to the 10th Senate as “a chamber of resilience and balance,” one determined to prove that “freedom within order” is the highest form of democracy.
“When the chamber asserts that it will not be held hostage by the disruptive impulses of any single member, it is asserting the priority of collective responsibility over individual grandstanding,” he stated.
Akpabio maintained that his leadership will continue to be a balance between firmness and accommodation, positioning the upper chamber as a source of stabilisation amidst growing populism and public disenchantment.
“Such leadership does not seek applause; it seeks stability,” he went on. “By keeping to its Standing Orders, the Senate has restored its moral authority and shown that properly enforced rules are bulwarks against institutional erosion, not instruments of oppression.”
His utterances are coming at a period when the balance between legislative restraint and freedom of speech remains a core challenge in Nigeria’s evolving democratic experience.
