Senator Adams Oshiomhole on Thursday openly challenged Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary, accusing him of violating a peace agreement they both reached to avoid revisiting past controversies involving each other.
The exchange took place during Senate proceedings following discussions on the persistent refusal of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs), to honour invitations issued by the Senate Committee on Finance.
The motion under consideration was sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, who expressed concern over what lawmakers described as a growing disregard for the National Assembly’s oversight functions by several government institutions.
Shortly after deliberations on the motion, Oshiomhole rose on a point of order and drew the attention of the chamber to what he described as a breach of trust by the Senate President.
The former Edo State governor said both men had earlier agreed to put past disagreements behind them and refrain from making comments capable of reopening old controversies.
His remarks came after Akpabio made reference to an earlier incident involving Oshiomhole while responding to comments made during the debate.
Addressing the Senate, Oshiomhole said: “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…”
The comment immediately attracted laughter across the chamber.
Continuing, the senator added: “So I told Mr Senate President, the truce is signed. You should not violate, I will not violate.”
In a lighter tone, he further declared: “You are my brother. You are my brother. You are my leader. You are my president. So that is all I want to say.”
Despite raising the issue publicly, Oshiomhole said he would not pursue any formal complaint against the Senate President.
According to him, he had initially intended to invoke a Senate rule but later decided against it.
“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 said, drawing another round of laughter from lawmakers.
Akpabio immediately responded and offered an apology, insisting that his comments were not intended to offend the Edo North senator.
“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 comments were made while responding to contributions from Senator Ogoshi Onawo, who had referred to an earlier debate concerning the cancellation of a proposed warrant of arrest.
According to Akpabio, he merely referenced a previous discussion in which Oshiomhole had taken a strong position on the matter.
“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 stated.
Akpabio acknowledged the peace agreement between both lawmakers and assured the Senate that he would not revisit issues capable of reigniting tensions.
“Sorry, we have a truce. No more hostilities. Agreement is agreement,” he said.
The Senate President further assured members that the leadership of the chamber remained committed to treating all senators fairly.
“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 added.
Akpabio also described Oshiomhole as a longtime friend and colleague, recalling their relationship dating back to their days as state governors.
“I hold him in very high esteem. And I assure you that agreement is agreement,” he said.
Bringing the exchange to a humorous conclusion, the Senate President joked that he would not emulate countries that abandon 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, prompting laughter throughout the chamber.
The exchange took place against the backdrop of a serious debate on the increasing refusal of some public agencies to honour Senate invitations.
During discussions on the motion, Senator Ogoshi Onawo urged lawmakers to take stronger action against officials who fail to appear before committees.
He cited constitutional provisions empowering the Senate to compel attendance where necessary and argued that repeated non-compliance undermines legislative oversight.
Akpabio also warned that the Senate would no longer tolerate situations where agency heads ignore invitations without consequences.
According to him, any official who refuses to appear before a Senate committee could eventually be summoned before the full chamber and compelled to attend in line with constitutional provisions.
