A light-hearted exchange between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Adams Oshiomhole on Thursday briefly interrupted proceedings in the Senate, with Akpabio apologising after Oshiomhole accused him of violating an agreement to avoid joking about each other’s past controversies.
The incident occurred during plenary while lawmakers considered a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, on the persistent refusal of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) to honour invitations issued by the committee as part of the Senate’s oversight functions.
The exchange began after Akpabio made a humorous remark referencing an earlier controversy involving Oshiomhole. The comment alluded to a viral video that purportedly showed the former Edo State governor massaging a woman’s leg aboard a private jet. Oshiomhole’s camp has consistently maintained that the video was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) and dismissed it as misinformation.
Responding on the Senate floor, Oshiomhole reminded the Senate President that they had agreed to stop making jokes about each other’s past controversies.
“You breached our truce agreement,” Oshiomhole said, before adding that he would not pursue the matter further. He jokingly remarked that he was dropping his planned point of order and urged the Senate President to “protect vertically challenged people in the Senate.”
Akpabio immediately offered an apology, saying he had no intention of offending his colleague.
“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 explained that his comment arose while responding to another senator’s contribution during the debate and was not intended as a personal attack.
