Akpabio sees me as devil — Oshiomhole

The Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is suspicious of him.

Oshiomhole made the remarks on the Sunday edition of MIC ON PODCAST, amid growing tensions within the Senate following the controversy generated by his recent comments on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The former Edo State governor said Akpabio harbours an unfounded bias against him despite his contributions to the ruling All Progressives Congress and President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory.

He said, “Don’t forget that I was a founding governor of the APC and Deputy DG of Bola Tinubu Campaign Council that gave us victory. I’m not saying I am responsible for the victory, but I worked for it, and I’m happy we got it.

“He (Akpabio) is so paranoid about anything 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 misled himself into thinking that I am probably the devil he knows. There are many angels he doesn’t know,” he said.

The senator further predicted that the next Senate leadership arrangement would differ significantly from the current one, citing growing discontent among lawmakers.

“The 11th Senate will not be like the 10th, this I can say. It can’t be. Senators are grumbling about his style of leadership. But we try to manage, and I’ve tried to assure him that ‘Look, Mr Senate President, I am a very fulfilled person.’

“Whatever job I am given to do, I ask God to give me courage and even greater wisdom to do that job to the satisfaction of my constituents. The Senate President’s bias against me is very well known. I will not join in speculating as to the reason for his bias,” he stated.

Continuing, Oshiomhole claimed that Akpabio often becomes uneasy whenever he interacts with certain senators and cited an encounter involving Senator Abdulaziz Yari as an example.

He said, “Many people in the Senate know. 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. I will give you an instance.

“Senator Yari approached the Senate President and said that he wanted to be the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior. I am the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior. The Senate President said to him, so you want to join Senator Oshiomhole to plan how to remove me as Senate President? But I just laugh it off.”

According to him, the Senate President occupies the position of “first among equals” and remains subject to the collective will of senators.

“If you understand the way the Senate works, the Senate President is first among equals. Only the persons favoured by the Senators are elected.

“Remember, if Senator Yari had got the majority, he could have become the Senate President. It is not about what anybody wishes. It is about who the senators want,” he warned.

The remarks come days after the Senate publicly distanced itself from Oshiomhole’s description of the NNPCL as “a bunch of criminals and thieves,” insisting that the comments represented his personal views and not those of the Red Chamber.

During plenary last week, the Senate adopted a motion sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, clarifying that no committee of the Senate has the authority to issue, authorise or execute a warrant of arrest without strict compliance with 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 had recommended the issuance of a warrant of arrest against former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, over his alleged failure to honour invitations by the committee.

Efforts to get the reaction of Akpabio’s media aide, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, were unsuccessful.

As of the time of filing this story, he neither picked up calls nor replied to the messages sent for clarification.