BREAKING: Reps in rowdy session over motion to summon Tinubu

The House of Representatives dissolved into chaotic, rowdy shouting matches during Wednesday’s plenary session as lawmakers fiercely clashed over a controversial motion seeking to summon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appear before the Green Chamber.

The uproar erupted during a debate centered on the alleged persistent non-funding of constituency projects across the federation, creating sharp divisions along party lines and forcing legislative leadership to frantically scramble for order.

The legislative fireworks began when Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh (Labour Party – Abia State) introduced a motion demanding that President Tinubu be formally summoned to explain the ongoing delays in releasing funds for critical constituency projects nationwide.

The motion immediately found support among several opposition lawmakers. The friction intensified dramatically when an amendment was proposed by another lawmaker suggesting that the House of Representatives completely suspend plenary sessions and shut down legislative activities for one week until the funding deadlock is resolved.

The proposal for both a presidential summons and a temporary shutdown of parliament met with fierce resistance from ruling party members.

Hon. Yusuf Gagdi (All Progressives Congress – Plateau State) led the pushback against the motion, arguing vehemently that dragging the President before the full House was entirely unwarranted. Gagdi maintained that project implementation and capital releases fall squarely under the statutory mandates of various federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), rather than the presidency itself.

Gagdi also sharply dismissed the idea of a one-week legislative strike, labeling it unnecessary and disruptive to governance.

Gagdi’s counter-arguments triggered an immediate backlash from opposition rows, giving rise to intense shouting matches that disrupted proceedings. Lawmakers rose from their seats, trading insults and gesticulating angrily across the aisles, rendering presenting members completely inaudible.

As the chamber bordered on total decorum collapse, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas intervened forcefully to cool the escalating tensions. Refusing to allow the verbal warfare to completely derail the day's legislative agenda, Abbas cut through the noise and directed that the House immediately move to a formal vote on the matter to determine its official position.

The raw division on the floor highlights growing structural anxieties within the National Assembly regarding capital budget implementation and the execution of regional development programs. While the leadership managed to restore a tense calm after calling for a vote, the explosive debate exposes deep political fractures over the boundaries of the legislature's oversight powers and its direct relationship with the executive arm.