After weeks of bruising exchanges that exposed cracks within the Senate’s top hierarchy, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) on Thursday publicly declared a truce, signalling an end to a string of confrontations that had repeatedly disrupted proceedings in the Red Chamber.
The reconciliation unfolded during plenary when Oshiomhole interrupted proceedings on a point of order, accusing the Senate President—more in jest than anger—of already breaching the peace pact they had reached by repeatedly refusing to recognise him despite his raised hand.
The former Edo State governor further joked that Akpabio was failing to protect senators who were “vertically challenged,” drawing laughter from lawmakers.
Akpabio dismissed suggestions that he had deliberately ignored Oshiomhole, explaining that he had been responding to another senator before turning to the Edo lawmaker.
He then seized the opportunity to publicly reaffirm his regard for Oshiomhole and assure senators that the chair would remain impartial.
“I will never refer to the un-senatorial comments of ‘bringing the man dead or alive,’ but I want to assure you that this chair will protect everyone, every single senator,” Akpabio said.
Describing Oshiomhole as “my brother, my friend and my colleague when we were governors,” the Senate President said he held the former labour leader “in very high esteem.”
In a quip that sent the chamber into laughter, Akpabio added: “Agreement is agreement. I will not behave like America and Iran, where they will have an agreement today and two days later they will bomb each other.”
The exchange marked an abrupt shift from the frosty relationship that has played out publicly between the two senior APC figures in recent weeks.
The tension peaked during the Senate Public Accounts Committee’s investigation into over ₦210 trillion in disputed audit entries in the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Frustrated by former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari’s repeated failure to honour invitations, Oshiomhole urged the committee to invoke its powers immediately, declaring that lawmakers should “bring Mele Kyari here, dead or alive.”
He also described officials of the national oil company as “a bunch of criminals and thieves,” remarks that triggered criticism within and outside the National Assembly.
The following day, the Senate leadership moved swiftly to distance the institution from the comments.
Through a motion sponsored by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, the chamber nullified the committee’s purported arrest warrant against Kyari, ruled that only the Senate President could authorise such a warrant under the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, and declared that Oshiomhole’s remarks did not represent the official position of the Senate.
The disagreement between both men had also spilled into the Senate’s screening of former Federal University Oye-Ekiti Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, for appointment as a non-career ambassador.
Oshiomhole had urged the Senate to defer Fasina’s confirmation until allegations of sexual harassment against him were resolved in court, arguing that approving the nomination beforehand could undermine public confidence.
Akpabio rejected the proposal and, in a moment that quickly went viral, turned the spotlight on Oshiomhole himself by resurrecting the controversy surrounding a video allegedly showing the Edo senator massaging the feet of South African social media personality Leshaan Dagama aboard a private jet.
“We ignored it because we thought it was AI,” Akpabio joked at the time, adding that the Senate could examine the matter if fresh evidence emerged.
The jab drew laughter in the chamber but underscored the increasingly personal nature of exchanges between both lawmakers.
Relations had already been strained by Oshiomhole’s willingness to challenge the leadership on several contentious issues, including debates on amendments to the Senate Standing Orders and oversight proceedings involving key government institutions.
Against that backdrop, Thursday’s public reconciliation appeared carefully choreographed to project unity within the governing party’s Senate caucus and restore calm after days of headline-grabbing confrontations.
For observers, the symbolism may have been as important as the words themselves. By publicly pledging to protect Oshiomhole and every other senator, while Oshiomhole responded with humour rather than confrontation, both men signalled a mutual desire to end a rivalry that had increasingly overshadowed legislative business.