According to The Nigerian Tribune, the Senate called an emergency executive session on Thursday after a contentious dispute over the Red Chamber’s scheduled official sitting hour.
The scheduling of the plenary meetings was the point of contention between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and his predecessor, Senator Ahmed Lawan.
The Senate’s rules state that the official start time is 10 a.m.
But since lawmakers frequently arrive late, it has been customary for meetings to begin considerably later—typically at 11 a.m. or even later.
Even though the Senate’s formal start time is 10 am, it typically ends its day’s sessions with preparations to resume at 11 am on the following legislative day.
The Senate attempted to formally change its rules on Thursday in order to move the official sitting time from 10 am to 11 am.
Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, made the original motion.
Lawan was against the amendment as the Senate began to consider it.
He posed a challenge to Akpabio, claiming that the justification for shifting the session time—to align with the House of Representatives—was not compelling or “scientific.”
He emphasised that SEnators were more active in the early hours of the day, making a 10 am start more productive, and he emphasised that there were no compelling reasons to change the session time.
“It is not convincing to argue that the modification was made to allow the Senate to align its meeting schedule with the House of Representatives.