Senate President Godswill Akpabio has disagreed with former Senate President Ahmad Lawan regarding the withdrawal of security aides from suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti.
During a plenary session broadcast by NASSTV, Sen. Akpabio directly challenged Sen. Lawan’s position that removing Akpoti’s security detail compromises her safety. “If your security is given to you as a leverage as being a senator, then there will be no need for them to hang around with you when you are no longer a senator,” Akpabio stated firmly. “In other words, if you are no longer a president of the Senate, you cannot continue to sit in the car of the president of the Senate.”
Sen. Akpabio then referenced a previous interaction with Lawan to support his argument: “I was with you in the Villa the day you declared support for me, and I saw you off as a sign of respect as the outgoing Senate President. When we got to the vehicle, you just pointed out and said, ‘This will be withdrawn from me tomorrow and will come to your house after you win.’ So, if you are telling me that, assuming I had failed that day, would that vehicle come to my house?”
Senator Lawan attempted to clarify his position, maintaining that since Akpoti was merely suspended rather than expelled, her security detail should remain intact as she technically retains her senatorial status despite the temporary suspension. Sen. Akpabio vehemently refused to submit to that suggestion by the former Senate leader.
