Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, on Friday tendered an unreserved apology to Senate President, David Mark, over the assault on him, when he was walked out by some aggrieved members of the house of representative when he visited the lower chambers.

A statement by Senate President's Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said the speaker appealed to Mark to pardon the misdeed of some hournourable members who reportedly held the Senate president by his shoulders, shaking him vehemently and almost removed his cap when the latter visited the House chamber to calm frayed nerves following the pandemonium that accompanied the invasion of the National Assembly by security forces.

The invasion followed attempts by the police to stop Tambuwal from gaining access to the National Assembly as a result of his defection from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) on October 28.

Earlier, Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, had apologised to Mark over the unruly behaviour of Cheche, promising to discipline him for assaulting the Senate president whom he described as a statesman and former military governor of Niger State.

The statement which quoted Mark as saying he had forgiven Cheche for his action, also explained the reason for his visit to the House of Representatives' chamber at the height of the pandemonium which engulfed the National Assembly on Thursday.

According to the statement, Mark said he visited the House "to ascertain the safety of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and his colleagues having received reports that canisters of tear gas were targeted at the lawmakers."

The statement added: "I also went to confer with Mr. Speaker on the need to suspend plenary in both chambers in order to restore sanity to an environment that had turned restive and becoming uncontrollable. My intention was to safeguard the sanctity of the hallowed chamber and to guarantee the respect of the legislature. I consider the unwarranted and needless attack on my person by Hon. Abdulmalik Usman Cheche as a price and sacrifice for leadership. It is a sacrifice I am prepared to accept.

"I was physically stopped at the gate and prevented from accessing the National Assembly complex for about an hour. I was also tear gassed at the lobby of the White House as I made my return from the Green Chamber. In all these, I bear no ill feeling. AbdulMalik is my colleague. I have forgiven him. I believe we can continue to work together in the interest of peace and sustenance of democracy.

"Like I have repeatedly said, I will do anything necessary to keep the sanctity of the parliament as an institution and safeguard the respect of every legislator. I therefore urge all political actors to always remember that we must first have a nation before we can achieve our various individual ambitions. We must at all times restrain ourselves from actions that cannot add value to our hard earned democracy. We should remain guided by the rules no matter how strongly we perceive our positions to be the most appropriate," Mark said.