Senator Godswill Akpabio (APC-Akwa Ibom) has described Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara as weak and asked them to resign before they were forced to leave as they no longer capable to function.
Akpabio, a former ally of Saraki and Dogara, said his former political friends were now weak because they were unable to deliver their addresses during President Muhammadu Buhari’s budget presentation.
NAN reports that Saraki and Dogara were expected to make opening and closing remarks respectively before and after the presentation.
However, the rowdy session caused by PDP lawmakers at the presentation made it impossible for the two presiding officers to deliver their addresses.
Reacting to the development, Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state, said Saraki and Dogara could not speak because they were no longer qualified to do so.
The former senate minority leader said: “They really couldn’t talk because they shouldn’t be sitting on those seats since they now belong to a minority party.
“When I was in the minority party, I was the minority leader; I wasn’t the Senate President.
“So I will expect that what has happened today should be a wake-up call on the Speaker and the Senate President to resign peacefully,” he said.
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On the rowdy session, he said such action was a characteristic of a parliament all over the world.
“But you could also notice that the majority party, the APC, showed its strength. There was a lot of quietness; there was a lot of silence whenever the President was making key points.
“The rest were just normal nuances of politics,” he said.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
