Senate President Godswill Akpabio has reaffirmed that the upper legislative chamber will not allow any individual lawmaker to hold it hostage or undermine its rules.

In a statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, and titled “The Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria’s 10th Senate”, Akpabio said the Senate’s insistence on enforcing its standing orders was not intended to silence dissent but to preserve order and uphold the sanctity of democratic institutions.

He stressed that discipline and respect for parliamentary rules were essential to maintaining Nigeria’s democracy.

Akpabio’s comments followed his recent disagreement with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central), who returned from a six-month suspension and has since continued to challenge the Senate’s decision.

“The Senate cannot and will not be held hostage by the disruptive instincts of any of its members,” Akpabio declared. “Democracy thrives only when its institutions are respected and its rules upheld. The discipline of parliamentary conduct is a universal marker of political civilisation.”

Citing practices in other parliaments, he said, “In the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, the authority of the Speaker is absolute and unchallenged. No member, regardless of party or popularity, may openly defy the Speaker’s ruling without consequences.”

He further noted that the Nigerian Senate’s Standing Orders were not “ceremonial relics from the past” but “the living constitution of the institution, carefully designed to preserve fairness, consistency, and the sanctity of the legislative process.”

The Senate President defended the legislature’s right to discipline erring members, drawing parallels with other democracies where lawmakers face suspension or expulsion for breaching parliamentary order.

“In the world’s most respected parliaments, members who flout rules face swift consequences. In the British House of Commons, suspension or expulsion is not rare when a member’s behaviour undermines parliamentary dignity. Nigeria’s Senate has every right to apply similar standards,” he said.

Describing the 10th Senate as “a chamber of resilience and balance”, Akpabio said its leadership was determined to show that “freedom within order is the truest form of democracy.”

“When the chamber asserts that it will not be held hostage by the disruptive instincts of any single member, it is affirming the primacy of collective responsibility over individual grandstanding,” he stated. “This is how strong legislatures endure — not by silencing dissent, but by ensuring that dissent respects the bounds of procedure.”

He added that his leadership approach combined firmness with inclusion, stressing that the Senate must remain a stabilising force amid rising populism and public cynicism.

“Leadership of this sort does not seek applause; it seeks stability,” Akpabio said. “By upholding its Standing Orders, the Senate has reclaimed its moral authority and demonstrated that rules, properly enforced, are not instruments of oppression but shields against institutional decay.”