The senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of being prejudiced against him, claiming he would keep him out of the Senate if he had the opportunity.
Speaking during an interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s podcast aired on Sunday, the former Edo State governor said Akpabio had become “paranoid” about him despite his contributions to the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the election of President Bola Tinubu.
“Akpabio forgets that I was a founding governor of APC. And I was deputy DG of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign that gave us victory. I am not saying I am responsible for the victory. But I worked for it and I’m happy we got it,” he said.
“He is paranoid about everything that has to do with me. Everybody in the senate knows that if Senator Akpabio has his way, he would lock me out of the senate because he has misled himself into thinking that I’m probably the devil he knows.”
Oshiomhole said many lawmakers were unhappy with Akpabio’s leadership style, adding that the next Senate may not operate in the same manner as the current one.
“However, there are many agents he doesn’t know, and the 11th senate will not be like the 10th senate. This I can say: senators are grumbling about his style of leadership,” he said.
The lawmaker maintained that Akpabio’s alleged bias against him was widely known among senators, though he declined to speculate on the reasons behind it.
“The senate president’s bias against me is very well known. I will not join in speculating about the reason for his bias. But many people in that senate know,” he said.
“In fact, if I am going round on the floor of the senate greeting certain people and having conversations, the man will become uncomfortable.”
Oshiomhole also narrated an alleged exchange between Akpabio and Abdulaziz Yari, senator representing Zamfara West, regarding the leadership of the Senate Committee on Interior.
According to him, Yari had expressed interest in becoming vice-chairman of the committee, which Oshiomhole currently heads.
“Senator Yari approached the senate president that he wanted to be vice-chairman of the senate committee on interior. I am the chairman of the committee,” he said.
“So Yari said he wants to be vice-chairman. And the senate president said to him, ‘So you want to join Senator Oshiomhole to be planning how to remove him as senate president?’ He said that. But I just laughed it off.”
The remarks come amid heightened tensions in the Senate following Oshiomhole’s recent comments on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
During plenary last Wednesday, the former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president supported a motion by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts seeking the arrest of Mele Kyari, former Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, for failing to honour invitations connected to an ongoing investigation into the company’s finances.
The move followed increased scrutiny by lawmakers of NNPC audit reports from 2017 to 2023, which reportedly contain unresolved financial discrepancies and entries valued at more than N210 trillion.