Some members of the Senate were in disagreement on Thursday after Senator Enyinaya Abaribe questioned the competence of President Muhammadu Buhari over the security situation in the country.
Senator Abaribe is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the lawmaker representing Abia Central at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Speaking on the floor of the Red Chamber, the lawmaker was concerned over the comments made by President Buhari recently in London, that the killer herdsmen were allegedly trained and armed by the late Former President of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi.
Reacting to the statement, Abaribe said the President was “implying that these people doing these killings in Nigeria are invaders from outside Nigeria.”
“When a Commander-in-Chief cannot take care of invaders invading Nigeria, why is he still a Commander-in-Chief; Why do we still continue to indulge this president that, everywhere, goes along to tell everyone outside this country that he is totally incompetent? He questioned.
Senator Abaribe’s comments, however, angered some of his colleagues in the All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan.
Condemning the lawmaker’s statement, Senator Lawan said, “I want to ask my colleague there to immediately withdraw his statement and apologise to this chamber.”
“I was once there as an opposition senator; there was never a time that we called the President at that time, who was a PDP president, an insult because this is our institution and if we don’t conduct ourselves with dignity and respect, nobody will respect us,” he added.
Senate President Bukola Saraki then waded into the disagreement and asked Senator Abaribe to be more cautious in his choice of words in the Senate.
He also stressed the need for the lawmakers to be guided on the language they use, noting that they could make their points without using offensive and unacceptable words.
Senator Abaribe consequently tendered his apology, saying “if any word I used is misunderstood, I apologise.”
