Talk Less To Press, Lawan Tells Senators

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has cautioned fellow Senators against talking to the press in order not to misled the public.
According to Lawan, once an issue has been decided in the Senate, any lawmaker who is dissatisfied should approach his colleagues on the matter rather than talking to journalists.
The Senate President gave the admonition on Wednesday while speaking on a complaint by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who faulted a TV interview by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.
Omo-Agege claimed that Abaribe alleged in the interview on Channels TV that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators conspired to shortchange the host communities over the five per cent equity stake provision in the Petroleum Industry Bill that was passed into law on July 1, 2021, and subsequently assented by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Omo-Agege, who said there was no time the APC Senators conspired to reduce the five per cent equity stake proposed for the host communities of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, in the joint committee’s report, to three per cent, added that the 3 per cent adopted was a collective decision of the Senate.
But responding to Omo-Agege’s complaint in the absence of Abaribe, the Senate President said members of the 9th Senate do not vote along party lines even as he called on Senators to talk less to the press.
Lawan said: “When the Senate takes a decision, we should inform the public correctly because it is our duty to give the correct information to the public.
“I will encourage us to talk less to the press on ways that will not give the press a wrong impression. We should concentrate more on talking to our colleagues in the Senate.
“I would have loved to give the minority leader an opportunity to speak but this is a matter of privilege. I hope all of us have learnt a lesson or two from this.
“There is no point giving wrong information because we never vote along party lines, he added.