Senate President GodsWill Akpabio blocked President’s media aide Dele Alake from reciting the National Anthem’s second stanza on Wednesday.

Alake was prompted by Minority Leader Senator Simon Mwadkwom to recite the stanza as a reference to an old social media post. Mwadkwom questioned Alake about his previous statement that criticized a political party.

He emphasized that a Minister of Information should know the National Anthem well. Despite Mwadkwom’s request, Akpabio and Senate President Opeyemi Bamidele shielded Alake from responding.

The Senate leader invoked Order 12, highlighting that senators should only address others for points of order or privilege. Bamidele clarified that the issue stemmed from a previous campaign, unrelated to the current ministerial screening. Akpabio agreed, stressing that campaigning was over and nominees should discuss their contributions rather than engage in song recitals.

(Punch)