Senator representing Edo north, Adams Oshiomhole accused senate president Godswill Akpabio of harbouring a bias against him, saying the senate leader is suspicious of his activities and influence within the national assembly on Sunday, June 14.
Oshiomhole made the remarks amid rising tensions in the senate over controversy generated by his recent comments on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The former Edo state governor stated that Akpabio has an unfounded prejudice against him despite his contributions to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the victory of president Bola Tinubu in the election.
“Don’t forget I was a founding governor of the APC and deputy director-general of Bola Tinubu campaign council that gave us victory. I am not saying that I am responsible for the victory, but I worked for it and I am happy that we got it.
“He (Akpabio) is so paranoid about anything that concerns me. Everybody in the senate knows that if senator Akpabio have his way, he will lock me out of the senate because he has deluded himself into thinking that I am possibly the devil he knows. “He doesn’t know there are many angels,” he said.
“The next senate leadership arrangement will be very different from the present one,” the senator predicted citing growing dissatisfaction among lawmakers.
“I can say the 11th senate will not be like the 10th. That is impossible.” senators are grousing about his style of leadership. But we cope and I have tried to assure him that ‘Look, senate president, I am a very fulfilled person.
“Whatever job I am asked to do, I ask God to give me courage and even greater wisdom to do that job to the satisfaction of my constituents. It is very well known that the senate president is biased against me. “I am not going to speculate as to why he has bias,” he said.
Akpabio often becomes uneasy whenever he interacts with certain senators, Oshiomhole added, citing an encounter involving senator Abdulaziz Yari as an example.
“Many people in the senate know that. In fact, if I go around the floor of the senate and I go greet certain persons and we have conversations, the man becomes uncomfortable. “Let me give you an example,” Oshiomhole said.
“Senator Yari approached the senate president and said he wanted to be the vice-chairman of the senate committee on Interior. I am chairman of the Senate Interior Committee. The senate president told him, “So you want to join Senator Oshiomhole to plan how to remove me as Senate president?” But I just laugh.
The senate president is “first among equals” and subservient to the collective will of senators, he says.
“If you understand the way the senate works, the senate president is the first among equals. The senators favour only the persons elected.
Remember, if senator Yari had gotten the majority, he could have become the senate President. It is not a question of what anybody wants. It’s about who the senators want,” he cautioned.
The comments come days after the senate publicly dissociated itself from Oshiomhole’s characterization of the NNPC as a bunch of criminals and thieves, insisting that the comments were his personal views and not that of the Red Chamber.
Last week, during plenary, the senate passed a motion sponsored by senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, clarifying that no committee of the senate is empowered to issue, authorise or execute a warrant of arrest without strict adherence to the Legislative Houses (Powers and privileges) Act and the express approval of the senate president.
The resolution followed reports that the senate committee on public accounts recommended the issuance of a warrant of arrest against former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari, over his failure to honour invitations by the committee.
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