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 spoke against the backdrop of rising tensions in the senate over the controversy his recent comments on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited generated.
The former Edo state governor said Akpabio has an unprovoked bias against him despite his contributions to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the victory of president Bola Tinubu in the election.
Remember I was a founding governor of the APC and deputy director-general of Bola Tinubu campaign council that brought 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 everything that has to do with 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 tell you the 11th senate will not be like the 10th. That can’t be.” senators are complaining about his style of leading. But we cope and I have tried to assure him that ‘Look, senate president, I am a very fulfilled person.
“Whatever task I am given, I ask God to give me courage and even more wisdom to do that task to the satisfaction of my constituents. It is very well known that the senate president is biased against me. “I will not engage in speculation as to the reason for his bias,” he said.
Akpabio, according to Oshiomhole, gets uneasy when he engages with some senators, citing an instance of an encounter with senator Abdulaziz Yari.
“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 wants 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 strategise on how to remove me as senate president?” But I just laugh.
According to him, the senate president is in the position of “first among equals” and subject to the collective will of senators.
“If you understand the way the senate works, the senate president is the first among equals. The persons elected are only those whom the senators favour.
And remember, senator Yari could have been the senate President if he got the majority. It is not a matter of what anyone 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.
