Video: ‘Sit down! Shut up!’ shouting match rocks House of Reps over bid to summon Tinubu, ministers over budget delays

• A viral video captured lawmakers shouting "Sit Down! Shut Up!" during a heated House of Representatives session.

• The chaos erupted after a motion sought to summon President Tinubu over budget implementation, insecurity and economic challenges.

• Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled the request out of order, and the House instead approved an investigation into budget implementation delays.

A dramatic shouting match erupted in the House of Representatives during plenary on Wednesday, July 8. 

Lawmakers clashed over a controversial move to summon President Bola Tinubu. 

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They wanted him to explain delays in the implementation of the 2026 budget, worsening insecurity, and the country's economic challenges.

The heated session, which has since gone viral on social media, saw lawmakers repeatedly shouting "Sit down!", "Shut up!", and "Don't cross me!" as tempers flared on the floor of the Green Chamber.

The chaos began when Hon. Mascot Alex Ikwechegh, representing the Aba North and South Federal Constituencies of Abia State under the Labour Party, presented a motion on the urgent need to address poor funding of appropriated budgets and delayed releases of capital funds revealed during the 2026 budget defence sessions.

While presenting the motion, Ikwechegh went beyond the contents of the written document submitted to the House by calling for President Tinubu to personally appear before lawmakers.

He argued that despite the National Assembly approving trillions of naira in public spending, many capital projects remained abandoned, indigenous contractors had not been paid, and insecurity continued to worsen across the country.

"We have invited ministers, security chiefs, and members of the Economic Council," Ikwechegh said during the debate. 

"We want to invite the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to this hallowed chamber to explain to Nigerians why we are appropriating trillions of naira while insecurity persists and projects remain uncompleted."

The proposal quickly gained support from members across party lines. 

Hon. Mohammed Buba Jajere of the APC seconded the motion, while Labour Party lawmaker Amobi Godwin Ogah proposed suspending legislative activities for the week until the President honoured the invitation.

However, the atmosphere turned chaotic when Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, an APC lawmaker from Plateau State, rose to oppose the proposal.

Gagdi argued that the House should first invite the ministers and heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) responsible for implementing the budget before considering summoning the President.

His remarks were met with fierce opposition from many lawmakers, who drowned out his voice with loud chants of "Sit down!", "Shut up!", and "Don't cross me!", forcing the chamber into several minutes of disorder. 

The dramatic exchange was captured on video, which has since circulated widely online.

As tensions escalated, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas intervened to restore order and pointed out a procedural flaw in the motion.

According to the Speaker, the written version of Ikwechegh's motion only sought the establishment of an ad hoc committee to engage relevant government agencies over budget implementation. The request to summon President Tinubu had not been included in the officially submitted document.

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"What you read was a complete deviation from the motion you presented to me," Abbas ruled. "It is wrong for you to attempt to bring in what is not contained here."

Despite protests from several lawmakers demanding that the President's invitation be put to a vote, the Speaker ruled the oral amendment out of order.

Following a formal division that briefly split the House and prompted a walkout by some aggrieved members, the attempt to summon President Tinubu failed.

Instead, the House adopted the original motion, approving the establishment of an ad hoc committee to investigate the poor implementation of the 2026 budget and summon the relevant ministers and economic officials to explain the delays in releasing appropriated capital funds.

The dramatic exchange has continued to generate reactions online, with many Nigerians sharing clips of the heated debate and weighing in on whether lawmakers were right to seek the President's appearance before the House.