Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Senator Ireti Kingibe has dismissed reports suggesting she endorsed the committee recommendation that led to the suspension of Kogi Central lawmaker Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, insisting she had no prior knowledge of the document.
According to the FCT senator, she neither reviewed nor signed off on the report, as she was absent when it was drafted and submitted.
“I did tell everybody that I was not there. I wasn’t there. I was in the retreat with him. He came to meet me there, and when I heard about the report, I said, ‘But we were here,’” Kingibe said.
According to the senator, she attended the committee meeting briefly before leaving for a tax reform retreat, which she considered more important because of its direct impact on her constituents.
“We went myself and three or four other senators that were on that committee we went to the committee of petitions, public complaints and petitions, and we signed attendance. And I left to go to the tax reform retreat because that, I felt, was much more important,” she said.
Kingibe acknowledged that a photocopy of her signature appeared on the report but maintained that she did not sign the document recommending Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
“I even complained to other senators, specifically Senator Barau; I complained to him very bitterly that I have not seen that report. I didn’t see it then; I have not seen it till now.
“I couldn’t have endorsed the committee report; I didn’t see it”, she said.
The senator hinted that Senate procedures should require lawmakers to review committee reports before signing them, arguing that transparency in the process could be improved.
“The truth of the matter is there are many, many things that I feel should not be the way they are. Number one, I feel that we should be given reports to read when they are ready, and then we sign them. Not that the reports are written and then they’re just… sometimes we’re just given to sign.
“It is unlikely that I signed without being aware that was what I was signing. We’re supposed to read the report to then sign it. A photocopy of my signature is on it,” she insisted.
While discussing the controversy, Kingibe noted that disciplinary issues within the Senate are often resolved through apologies, suggesting that the dispute involving Akpoti-Uduaghan could have been settled much earlier.
“It can definitely be improved on. And truly, before now, every senator that has had a problem has been suspended for three months. But by the same token, every time any senator is out of order, being out of order ends as soon as you say, ‘Distinguished colleagues, I apologize for being out of order.’ I have apologized after throwing a tantrum.
Senator Ndume does it all the time, and we don’t get suspended because immediately we are done, we realize that we have contravened the laws and rules of that particular place that we chose to be part of. And we do the necessary thing by apologising and it’s over.
“It took as long as it did because it was absolutely unnecessary. Senator Natasha could have apologised,” Kingibe added.
