There was “mild drama in the Senate on Tuesday” when Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau openly countered Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s reserved position regarding United States President Donald Trump’s “controversial comments accusing Nigeria of genocide against Christians.”
The issue arose at the close of Tuesday’s plenary, shortly after Trump’s declaration of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” based on claims that “the Federal Government had allowed killings of Christians in the country.”
Akpabio opened the discussion by informing lawmakers that “Nigerians were eager to hear the Senate’s stance.”
He clarified, however, that the upper chamber “would not take a position until the Federal Government had formally briefed it on the matter.”
Asking rhetorically, “Who am I to reply Trump?” Akpabio explained that the Senate could only deliberate on issues “properly brought before it,” and stressed that while “Nigerians wanted the legislature to respond,” the Senate “would wait for official communication before taking any step.”
Akpabio’s remark provoked an “immediate reaction” from his deputy. Barau Jibrin “declared,” “Don’t be scared, I can say it. I am not scared of Trump. I will say my mind.”
Barau continued, asserting his sovereign authority: “I am a Nigerian, a parliamentarian, and the Deputy Senate President of a sovereign nation. I am not scared of Trump. Don’t be scared of Trump. You can say your mind about him. We are a sovereign nation. He is saying lies about our country, and we have the right to dispute it.”
He clarified his comment, saying, “If you say you didn’t say it, that is correct, but what I am trying to say is that you shouldn’t be scared of him.”
Akpabio “interjected while Barau was making his submission,” responding sharply: “I said I am not scared. How can the Senate President of the country be scared of Trump?”
He then directed Barau: “Get this, speak, but don’t allow people to ascribe what you did not say to you. But if you want me to say it now, I will do. But listen, I can only say what we discussed.”
Akpabio subsequently turned to the Clerk of the Senate, “directing that Barau’s comments be deleted from the official record,” saying the Deputy Senate President had “spoken out of tune.” “Unperturbed,”
Barau later walked toward Akpabio’s seat and engaged him in a “brief, hushed discussion that caught the attention of senators” before returning to his position.
