All the Senators of the Nigerian 10th Senate will move to Akwa Ibom State tomorrow, October 19, for a four-day retreat.
“We are moving the Senate all the way to Akwa Ibom for the next four days.”
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who spoke to newsmen today, October 18, shortly after an audience with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential villa, Abuja, said that the President needs to be informed that the Senate will not be available in Abuja.
He said that after the four-day retreat in Akwa Ibom, he will personally travel to Angola to attend the international parliamentary union.
“So, before he sees me, it will take probably another nine days. So, I needed to inform him.
“I came to inform the President of the first 10th Assembly retreat which is taking place tomorrow in Akwa Ibom State and also to solicit his support towards ensuring representation at the retreat and he has graciously done that.
“I told him some of the things we are going to discuss – tax reform and ways of ensuring the generation of revenue for him to work for Nigerians.”
On the conflicts in the Senate, Akpabio said that there is no cause for concern, saying that one cannot rule out disagreement in parliamentary interactions.
“We are all working in one accord. There is o problem at all. Even if some people disagree on some of the happenings in the senate, still, it is only the majority decision that is going to prevail.
“Parliament is like that. But we will never get to a point of throwing chairs. “We will never get to that point. The senate is too mature, full of matured people, so, if we have a disagreement, we immediately go into a closed session, resolve it and come out smiling. “We are politicians; no permanent hatred but permanent interest.
“That interest is the interest of the nation: to support the President, support his administration in legislation, oversight functions, to succeed, in order to move the country forward and that is what we have been doing and that is what we are committed to doing.”
