[TRENDING VIDEO] “Agreement is agreement,” Akpabio apologises to Oshiomhole after ‘no more hostilities’ truce breach

A mild drama unfolded on the floor of the Senate on Thursday after Senator Adams Oshiomhole accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of violating a truce they had reached to end hostilities and stop referring to past controversies involving each other.

The exchange occurred during the consideration of a motion on the persistent failure of Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to honour invitations from the Senate Committee on Finance.

The motion, sponsored by the committee’s chairman, Senator Sani Musa, focused on the refusal of some government agencies to appear before the Senate as part of its constitutional oversight responsibilities.

After the debate, Oshiomhole raised a point of order, alleging that Akpabio had breached their agreement by referring to a previous controversy involving him.

The reaction followed a comment by Akpabio linked to an earlier viral video that allegedly showed Oshiomhole massaging the legs of a South African woman aboard a private jet. Oshiomhole had dismissed the video as artificially generated.

Oshiomhole said he and Akpabio had agreed to end their disagreements and refrain from revisiting past issues.

“I want to report to this House that the Senate President and I signed a truce of no more hostilities, and the Senate President breached the truce by reverting to a previous matter with a view to behaving like…” he said.

Amid laughter from lawmakers, he added: “So I told Mr Senate President, the truce is signed. You should not violate, I will not violate.

“You are my brother. You are my brother. You are my leader. You are my president. So that is all I want to say.”

However, Oshiomhole said he would not pursue the matter further and announced that he was withdrawing his planned action.

“I am not going to read the order I am doing. Order 72, I hereby drop it. Just to say, sir, protect vertically challenged people in the Senate. Thank you, sir,” he added.

Akpabio subsequently apologised to Oshiomhole, saying he had no intention of offending him.

“Let me, first of all, apologise to distinguished Senator Oshiomhole. If whatever I said could have in any way injured him or inferred to offend him,” Akpabio said.

The Senate president explained that his comment was made in response to Senator Ogoshi Onawo’s reference to an earlier debate concerning the cancellation of a proposed warrant of arrest.

“I was responding to Senator Ogoshi when he referred to the issue that we cancelled the proposed warrant of arrest. Which at that time, distinguished Senator Oshiomhole said we should bring the man dead or alive,” he said.

Akpabio acknowledged the existence of their agreement, saying: “Sorry, we have a truce. No more hostilities. Agreement is agreement.”

He promised to refrain from making further references to past controversies and assured lawmakers that the Senate leadership would continue to protect all senators.

“I will never refer to the unsenatorial comment of bringing the man dead or alive. But I want to assure you that this chair will protect everyone, every single senator,” he said.

The Senate president described Oshiomhole as his brother, friend and colleague, recalling their previous relationship as state governors.

“I hold him in very high esteem. And I assure you that agreement is agreement,” Akpabio said.

Akpabio later joked that he would not act like countries that violate agreements shortly after signing them.

“I will not behave like America and Iran. When they have an agreement today and two days later they will bomb each other,” he said, drawing laughter from the chamber.

Earlier, Senator Ogoshi Onawo, while contributing to the motion that triggered the exchange, said the Senate should exercise its constitutional powers to compel officials who refuse to honour invitations to appear before committees.

Onawo cited Section 89(1)(d) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which empowers the Senate to issue warrants compelling the attendance of individuals who fail to appear after being summoned.

He urged the Senate to first engage with agencies that default on invitations and invoke its constitutional powers where necessary.

Akpabio had earlier said the Senate could no longer continue to complain about government agencies refusing to appear before its committees, insisting that the chamber would make use of the powers vested in it by the Constitution.

“If any committee reports that the head of an agency has refused to appear, the Senate can invite that person to appear before the whole Senate. If the individual still refuses to appear, we will exercise our constitutional powers to compel attendance,” he said.

Onawo also called on the Senate to examine its own record, citing previous occasions when government agencies failed to honour invitations without facing consequences.

He mentioned the recent failure of officials from the Nigeria Football Federation and the National Sports Commission to appear before the Senate Committee on Sports as an example of disregard for legislative invitations.

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