Claim that Senate President Godswill Akpabio led his colleagues in the red chamber in mocking the common man has drawn his denial.
Akpabio was seen in a viral video of a session of the Senate saying of a motion to let the poor breathe amidst laughter.
The scene drawn conclusion in some quarters including a chieftain of the Labour Party, Professor Pat Utomi that the Senators, in particular, Akpabio made masses the butt of their joke.
Reacting to the claim by means of a response from Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, the Senate President hit out at Utomi.
Adaramodu said, “Insinuating that the President of the Senate, His Excellency, Godswill Akpabio, was mocking the Nigerian masses with the phrase ‘LET THE POOR BREATHE, is dressing falsehood and mischief in an undesirable garment.
“The personal tirades and character assaults hauled at the Senate President by Professor Pat Utomi, are misdirected and uncalled for.
“The Senate is an assembly of Distinguished men and women, who are sent by the Nigerian public to the Hallowed Chamber to represent their interests. The public-interest motion to halt an increase in the electricity tariff for Nigerians is one of such instances that tests the Senatorial responsiveness of Distinguished members of the 10th Senate.”
Continued, “With the fire of the fuel subsidy removal still smouldering, the Senate opined that any increase in electricity tariff would be suffocating and that whoever is desirous of doing so should allow the poor; all Nigerians to breathe.
“The Senate President compassionately hit the gavel with a stoic warning that any such attempts would be obnoxious, ludicrous and could only seize oxygen from the reach of the masses.”
