Akpabio Apologises to Oshiomhole, Reaffirms Senate Truce

The apology followed a light-hearted intervention by Oshiomhole, who accused the senate president of breaching a truce they had reached after recent verbal sparring.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday apologised to Senator Adams Oshiomhole over remarks he previously made during plenary, reaffirming an agreement between both lawmakers to end their public exchanges.

The apology followed a light-hearted intervention by Oshiomhole, who accused the senate president of breaching a truce they had reached after recent verbal sparring.

The feud between the two lawmakers began after Oshiomhole, during a June 10 sitting of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, urged that former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, be brought before the committee "dead or alive" over his repeated failure to honour invitations.

A day later, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele distanced the Senate from the remark, while criticising Oshiomhole's choice of words.

The disagreement deepened after Oshiomhole alleged in a podcast that Akpabio influenced the employment of his daughter at the NNPC and accused the senate president of being biased against him.

Akpabio later reignited the exchange on July 16 by referencing a viral video that purportedly showed the former Edo State governor massaging a woman's legs aboard a private jet.

At Thursday's plenary, Oshiomhole jokingly reminded the chamber that both men had agreed to put their differences behind them.

"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," he said, adding that he would not pursue the matter further.

Responding, Akpabio offered an apology, saying he had no intention of offending his colleague.

"Let me first apologise to Distinguished Senator Oshiomhole. If whatever I said in any way injured or offended him, I am sorry," he said.

The senate president reaffirmed their pact, pledging not to describe Oshiomhole's remarks as "unsenatorial" again.

"We have a truce. No more hostilities. Agreement is agreement, and it remains upheld," Akpabio said.

Describing Oshiomhole as a brother, friend and former colleague in the Nigeria Governors' Forum, Akpabio said he held the Edo North senator in high regard, adding jokingly that unlike "America and Iran," they would honour their agreement rather than resume hostilities.