By Emmanuel Abi Couson
Senator Seriake Dickson said he was not aware of the sitting of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee meeting because he was attending the 3 day workshop on the Tax Reform Bill which started Wednesday 5th of March and ended on the evening of Friday 7 March.
He made the statement when he and members of the opposition lawmakers paid a visit to their suspended colleague, Senator Natasha Akpoti, on Friday 7 March at their residence in Abuja.
He said he was not available to sit as a member of the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, Privileges, and Public Petitions regarding issues concerning their colleague, Distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan’s suspension.
He said although he had been assured by the Committee Chairman that the hearing would be on Wednesday, March 11, for which notices had already been issued, he was not notified of the emergency meeting that took place that same day.
Due to the strong views he had already expressed on the tax reform bills, Senator Dickson and his colleagues worked on the bill yesterday, and as a result, he was unable to join the plenary session that considered the report of the ethics committee that deliberated on and approved the suspension.
After concluding the three-day retreat on the bills, he led a delegation of some senators from opposition parties to visit their colleague, Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan, and met with her and her husband at their home.
They offered words of encouragement, prayers, and advice on a quick resolution of the issues surrounding her suspension, after hearing more from her and her husband for the first time.
The senator emphasized that they would discuss with their other colleagues how to intervene and engage with the leadership of the Senate to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.
It would recalled that the Senate had on the March 6 suspended Natasha Akpoti for six months, withdrawing allowances .
