Senator Adams Oshiomhole fired back at the Senate on Thursday. He claimed Godswill Akpabio himself doesn't meet the new leadership requirements.
A day after a fiery confrontation with Akpabio, Oshiomhole spoke to reporters about the freshly amended Senate rules. The new regulations demand eight continuous years in office for any lawmaker seeking presiding positions.
He questioned the fairness of the changes. According to him, applying these rules equally would disqualify Akpabio from his current post as Senate President.
"The Senate President became Minority Leader on his first day in the 8th Senate," Oshiomhole noted. "He immediately became a principal officer without any prior experience."
Oshiomhole highlighted what he saw as hypocrisy. Akpabio now presides over the chamber and demands these stringent rules from others.
The Edo North lawmaker stressed a critical point. Akpabio hasn't completed eight years in the Senate, even combining his previous tenure with his current one.
"If we pass a rule requiring eight consecutive years before becoming Senate President, then he should step aside," Oshiomhole said. "He didn't meet that qualification before taking the gavel."
He criticized the amendment as a power play. Long-standing parliamentary traditions were being altered for personal and political gain, he argued.
Oshiomhole referenced David Mark's precedent. Mark served eight years as Senate President under the existing rules without manipulating anything.
"What's wrong with the same rules that allowed Mark to lead?" he asked pointedly. "What's wrong with the rules that let Akpabio contest for office?"
In his view, the timing wasn't accidental. The amendment was designed to shrink the pool of future contenders.
Under previous rules, ranking was determined by one term in office. Akpabio benefited from being the sole South-South senator at that time.
Now, more senators would naturally become eligible under the old system. More competition threatened someone's grip on power, Oshiomhole suggested.
"He wants to shut that out," the senator said bluntly. The expanded field of candidates no longer suited the Senate leadership.
Oshiomhole brushed aside concerns about the controversy. He declared his fearlessness in speaking truth to power.
"If others are afraid, I am not," he told journalists. "The only person I fear is my Creator."
He reflected on life's certainties. Whether one speaks truth or falsehoods, death comes when it comes.
His latest comments arrived less than a day after the dramatic clash. Wednesday's plenary session had been disrupted by heated arguments between the two senators.
That confrontation followed a closed-door session lasting nearly three hours. The Senate had adopted the controversial standing order amendments during that meeting.
