You breached our truce agreement, Oshiomhole tells Akpabio

…As Akpabio apologises, Oshiomhole recalls ‘massaging woman’s legs’ jibe, says no more hostilities

“Sorry, we have a truce. Agreement is agreement. Oshiomhole is my brother, friend and colleague” — Akpabio

By Henry Umoru, Abuja

A mild drama occurred on the floor of the Senate on Thursday as Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of breaching a truce agreement between them after the latter made reference to a previous controversy involving him.

The exchange occurred during the consideration of a motion on the persistent non-compliance of Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with invitations issued by the Senate Committee on Finance.

The motion, sponsored by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), focused on the refusal of some agencies to honour invitations as part of the Senate’s oversight responsibilities.

Shortly after deliberations on the motion, Oshiomhole raised a point of order, accusing Akpabio of violating an agreement they reached to stop making references to past controversies involving each other.

His reaction followed a comment by Akpabio linking to an earlier viral video controversy that purportedly showed Oshiomhole massaging the legs of a South African woman on a private jet. Oshiomhole had dismissed the video as artificially generated.

Oshiomhole said he and Akpabio had agreed to end hostilities and avoid references to 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.”

Oshiomhole, however, said he would not pursue the matter further, adding 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.

Responding, Akpabio apologised to Oshiomhole, saying he did not intend to offend him with his comment.

“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 while responding to Senator Ogoshi Onawo’s reference to an earlier debate over 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 their agreement, saying: “Sorry, we have a truce. No more hostilities. Agreement is agreement.”

He assured Oshiomhole that he would avoid further references to past controversies, adding that the Senate leadership would continue to protect all lawmakers.

“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, noting their previous relationship as governors.

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

Akpabio ended the exchange with another joke, saying he would not behave like countries that break 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 (APC, Nasarawa South), while contributing to the motion by Senator Sani Musa that triggered the exchange between Akpabio and Oshiomhole, said the Senate must exercise its constitutional powers to compel attendance of officials who fail to honour invitations.

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

He urged the Senate to first communicate with defaulting agencies and invoke constitutional powers where necessary.

Akpabio had earlier said the Senate could no longer continue lamenting about agencies refusing to appear before committees, insisting that the chamber would use powers granted 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 urged the Senate to look inward, recalling previous instances where agencies failed to honour invitations without facing consequences.

He cited the recent failure of officials of 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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