Senate stops senator quizzing Alake over controversial media comments

Senate stops senator quizzing Alake over controversial media comments

The Senate’s screening of ministerial nominees entered its third day on Wednesday, with Dele Alake, one of President Bola Tinubu’s spokespersons, present.

During Alake’s screening, Senator Simon Mwadkwon, the Senate Minority Leader and senator representing Plateau North Senatorial District, quizzed him over controversial statements he made during the presidential campaign.

Mwadkwon referred to Alake as a communications expert, and then asked if he was aware that there were publications quoting him to have made derogatory statements against some members of the main opposition party.

While asking, senators began murmuring in dissenting voices, leading Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, to call for order in the Senate.

Akpabio told Mwadkwon to abandon issues that relate to campaign matters. “When you walk through that door, you are entering the Nigerian Senate, so let’s keep issues to federal governance,” he said.

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Countering him, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader and senator representing Ekiti Central, cautioned the Senate to stick to the provisions of its Standing Order Act 2015 on in-house practices.

Bamidele said it was wrong for senators to interrupt another senator asking questions and this was contained in Order 55, subsections 1-12.

Mwadkwon was then allowed to go on with his questions, and he then asked Alake to also recite the second stanza of the national anthem.

This time, Bamidele countered Mwadkwon, saying it was not the tradition of the Senate to ask nominees to recite the national anthem as “It is irrelevant to the provisions of Order 53, Subsection 4.”

As of press time, the Senate had allowed Alake to take a bow and pave the way for Muhammad Malagi, another nominee.

Senate stops senator quizzing Alake over controversial media comments