No Lawmaker Will Hold the Senate Hostage — Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has declared that no lawmaker will be allowed to hold the National Assembly “hostage,” emphasizing that discipline and respect for institutional rules are essential to preserving Nigeria’s democracy.

In a statement released by his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, and titled “The Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria’s 10th Senate,” Akpabio said the Senate’s decision to uphold its standing orders is not meant to silence differing opinions but to maintain order and protect the integrity of the legislature.

According to him, the Senate’s commitment to internal discipline is an act of institutional preservation rather than personal confrontation. “Without a doubt, Nigeria’s Senate belongs in that global fellowship of parliaments that recognise chaos as the heart of anarchy and order as the soul of democracy,” he said. “Its insistence on upholding internal discipline and protecting the authority of its leadership is, therefore, neither personal nor punitive. It is institutional self-preservation.”

Akpabio stressed that the Upper Chamber will not yield to the disruptive tendencies of any individual, describing such defiance as “individual grandstanding” that undermines collective responsibility. “When the chamber asserts that it will not be held hostage by the disruptive instincts of any single member, it is affirming the primacy of collective responsibility over individual grandstanding,” he said. “This is how strong legislatures endure: not by silencing dissent, but by ensuring that dissent respects the bounds of procedure.”

The Senate President further noted that parliamentary discipline is a universal principle in democratic governance, drawing parallels with other established democracies. He cited the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, where the authority of the Speaker is “absolute and unchallenged,” as well as Canada and Australia, where even intense political debates are guided by procedural decorum and respect for institutional authority.

Akpabio maintained that the strength of any democracy lies not in avoiding dissent but in managing it through rules and order. “In any democracy, the question is never whether there will be dissent. Instead, it is always about how it will be handled. The real measure of a democratic institution is how it handles internal turbulence,” he said.

Reflecting on the challenges faced by the 10th Senate, Akpabio said the chamber has remained focused on principle and procedure despite provocations and personality clashes. “When it insists that rules must be followed and that leadership must be respected, it is not acting out of pride but out of duty. Every time the Senate enforces its Standing Orders, it sends a message that Nigeria’s democracy is strong enough to discipline itself,” the statement concluded.