Oluremi Tinubu, senator representing Lagos central and wife of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), raised a storm at the senate on Wednesday when she sat on the chair meant for Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president.
Tinubu, who wanted to second a motion on the approval of the Lagos state development policy operation loan, earned the rebuke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators, when she stood up to speak while standing in the deputy senate president’s corner. The lawmaker bowed to the pressure of the PDP senators and left for her seat to second the motion. However, she came back to Ekweremadu’s seat, who was not present at plenary, after she had seconded the motion. She sat giddily in the deputy senate president’s seat, intermittently conversing with Aliyu Ndume, senate leader. After a brief debate on the report of the adhoc committee on local and foreign debts on a $200m loan sought by the Lagos state from the World Bank, the senate gave its approval.
Earlier, Danjuma Goje, a senator from Gombe state, had urged the senate to ensure that it did not approve loans that would leave huge debt burdens on future governments, but added that he was in support of the approval of the loan for Lagos state government. Making his contribution, George Sekibo, a senator from Rivers state, implored the senate to not only approve the loan, but also monitor how the money would be spent.
