A former member of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Yusuf, has called for stakeholders’ intervention in the feud between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to prevent its escalation.

Mr Yusuf, a three-term lawmaker who represented the Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency of Kogi, said more wisdom, tact and restraint should have been applied in handling the impasse.

The former lawmaker, who said he was disappointed at how the “needless” crisis was managed, believed it could still be resolved.

“The fact is, the image of the Senate has been bruised and battered, and something immediate and timely needs to be done,” Mr Yusuf said in a statement on Saturday.

“Going forward, I call on credible and patriotic Nigerians, in or out of government, to intervene in the lingering feud in the overall interest of the country.”

He said seat rearrangement, which was the initial issue, should not have been allowed to snowball into such a crisis if handled fairly and clearly. A seat rearrangement in the Senate did not go well with Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central), forcing her to challenge it.

The development resulted in her outburst on the floor of the Senate and culminated in her suspension from the upper legislative chamber for six months.

Subsequently, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged sexual harassment, intimidation and plots to assassinate her, all of which were denied by Mr Akpabio.

However, Mr Yusuf advised the Kogi government to seek ways to resolve the crisis.

Mr Yusuf said that though Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan is of a political party different from the ruling All Progressives Congress party (APC) in Kogi, she represents the state in the National Assembly.

He cautioned against taking sides or embarking on actions that would further escalate the matter beyond redemption.

Mr Yusuf also appealed to those behind the recall of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate to stop the move, saying they should not overheat the political space in Kogi.

A group of constituents from her senatorial district had equally written a petition to INEC to commence Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall process from the Senate.

Even though INEC had rejected the petition, saying it failed to meet the constitutional requirements, the petitioners vowed never to back down on the senator’s recall process.

(NAN)