Embattled Chairman of Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, Dino Melaye, returned to the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
He walked to the Senate chamber in a walking stick at 11.13 a.m. and was accompanied by his supporters.
There was, however, drama went he opted for an interim seat near where the former Senate President David Mark usually sits.
That left many wondering if he had defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Melaye, representing Kogi West, had urged Senate President Bukola Saraki to order the sergeants-at-arms to create a space for him on the side of the minority PDP.
Members of the PDP, after Melaye’s speech, then ushered him to a seat beside Mark’s own, even though Mark was absent at the proceedings.
Saraki, however, ruled that there was no need for Melaye to relocate to another seat.
Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, also raised a point of order saying that Melaye remains a member of the APC and could only change seats on the side dedicated to the majority party.
Lawan then asked the Chief Whip, Senator Sola Adeyeye, to take Melaye back to the APC section.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu saw the issue differently, however.
Quoting relevant sections of the Constitution, Ekweremadu argued that it was part of ensuring Melaye’s welfare, which is part of the duties of government to its citizens, that the lawmaker should be allowed to sit anywhere he chooses.
Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, also said the PDP caucus would welcome Melaye to sit with them as part of being their “brother’s keeper.”
He also noted that any member of the Senate is free to sit in any part of the chamber.
Melaye told his colleagues that the police attempted to kill him twice by trying to inject him.
The senator was arrested by the police last month over alleged illegal possession of ammunition.
He landed in the hospital after a failed attempt to evade being taken to Kogi State by the Nigerian police.
