Senate President Godswill Akpabio has apologised to Senator Adams Oshiomhole over remarks he previously described as “unsenatorial,” reaffirming a truce between both lawmakers to put an end to their recent public exchanges.
The apology came during Thursday’s plenary after Akpabio made a passing reference to Oshiomhole’s earlier “dead or alive” comment concerning former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
The disagreement dates back to June 10, when Oshiomhole, during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, supported a motion seeking a warrant of arrest against Kyari over his repeated failure to appear before the committee.
“He should be brought in dead or alive,” Oshiomhole had said.
The following day, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele distanced the Senate from the remark and criticised Oshiomhole’s comments.
The dispute later escalated after Oshiomhole alleged in a podcast that Akpabio influenced the employment of his daughter at the NNPCL and accused the Senate President of being biased against him.
Akpabio also reignited the exchange on July 16 when he referenced a viral video that allegedly showed Oshiomhole massaging a woman’s legs aboard a private jet.
During Thursday’s plenary, Oshiomhole humorously raised a point of order, accusing Akpabio of violating an agreement they had reached to stop making jokes about each other’s past controversies.
“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,” Oshiomhole said.
He, however, said he would not pursue the matter further and jokingly appealed for protection for “vertically challenged people in the Senate,” drawing laughter from lawmakers.
Responding, Akpabio offered an apology and assured Oshiomhole that he had no intention of offending him.
“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.
He reaffirmed their agreement to end the public exchanges.
“Sorry, we have a truce. No more hostilities. Agreement is agreement. I will never refer to your comments as unsenatorial again… The truce between us remains upheld,” he added.
Akpabio described Oshiomhole as a brother, friend and former colleague in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), saying he holds him in high regard.
In a lighter moment, the Senate President joked that unlike some countries, they would honour their agreement.
“I will not behave like America and Iran. When they have an agreement today, and two days later they will bomb each other,” Akpabio said.
The exchange ended on a cordial note, with both senators signalling that they had put their differences behind them.
