Adams Oshiomhole, the senator for Edo North, has stated that Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Senate, has doubts about him.
In the midst of escalating tensions within the Senate as a result of the issue surrounding his recent remarks regarding the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Oshiomhole made the remarks on Sunday’s episode of MIC ON PODCAST.
Despite his support for President Bola Tinubu’s election and the ruling All Progressives Congress, the former governor of Edo State claimed that Akpabio has an unjustified bias against him.
“Remember that I was a founding governor of the APC and Deputy DG of the Bola Tinubu Campaign Council that gave us victory,” he stated. I’m glad we won, but I don’t claim to be the reason for it. I worked hard for it.
Akpabio is extremely suspicious of anything that involves me. Everyone in the Senate is aware that if Senator Akpabio gets his way, he will bar me from serving because he has deceived himself into believing that I am most likely the devil he knows. He doesn’t know many angels,” he said.
Citing growing dissatisfaction among parliamentarians, the senator also projected that the future Senate leadership structure would be very different from the current one.
“I can say that the 11th Senate will not be like the 10th. It’s not possible. His leadership approach is causing senators to complain. However, we make an effort to cope, and I’ve made an effort to reassure him that, ‘Look, Mr. Senate President, I am a very fulfilled person.’
I pray God to give me the bravery and even more wisdom to complete any task assigned to me so that my constituents are satisfied. It is widely known that the Senate President is biased against me. I refuse to participate in conjecturing about the cause of his prejudice,” he declared.
Oshiomhole went on to say that Akpabio frequently becomes uncomfortable when he talks with certain senators, using Senator Abdulaziz Yari as an example.
He stated, “Many members of the Senate are aware. In fact, the man becomes uncomfortable if I walk around the Senate floor and say hello to specific people and we start talking. I’ll give you an example.
“Senator Yari expressed his desire to become the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior to the Senate President. The Senate Committee on Interior is chaired by me. So you want to join Senator Oshiomhole to plan how to remove me as Senate President?, the Senate President asked him. However, I simply laugh it off.”
He asserts that the Senate President is “first among equals” and is nonetheless subject to the senators’ collective will.
“The Senate President is first among equals if you know how the Senate operates. Only the senators’ preferred candidates are elected.
Recall that Senator Yari could have been elected Senate President if he had received the majority. It has nothing to do with what anyone wants. He cautioned, “It is about who the senators want.”
The Senate openly distanced itself from Oshiomhole’s portrayal of the NNPCL as “a bunch of criminals and thieves” a few days prior, claiming that the words were Oshiomhole’s personal opinions rather than the Red Chamber’s.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele’s motion, which was approved during last week’s plenary, clarified that no Senate committee has the power to issue, authorize, or carry out an arrest warrant without strict adherence to the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and the Senate President’s express consent.
