Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday apologised to Adams Oshiomhole, the senator representing Edo North, for previously describing one of the former Edo State governor’s remarks as “unsenatorial”, while reaffirming a truce between both lawmakers to end their recent public exchanges.
The apology came during plenary after Akpabio made a passing reference to Oshiomhole’s earlier “dead or alive” comment regarding Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The exchange followed weeks of public disagreement between the two senators over comments made during senate proceedings and in the media.
The rift began after Oshiomhole, during a June 10 sitting of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, backed a proposal to issue a warrant of arrest against Kyari over his repeated failure to honour invitations by the committee investigating financial records of the national oil company.
Supporting the motion, Oshiomhole said Kyari should be brought before the committee “dead or alive”, a remark that generated widespread public reaction.
A day later, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele moved a motion on the floor of the Senate distancing the upper chamber from any warrant of arrest against the former NNPC chief. Bamidele also criticised Oshiomhole’s choice of words.
The disagreement later escalated outside the chamber after Oshiomhole, during a podcast interview, alleged that Akpabio had influenced the employment of one of his daughters at the NNPC
