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Oshiomhole Demands Akpabio's Resignation Over "Immoral" Senate Rule Amendment — Says Senate President Would Not Qualify Under His Own New Rules
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Senator Adams Oshiomhole has demanded the resignation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio over what he calls an "immoral" amendment to the Senate Standing Orders.
A furious Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called for the immediate resignation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing him of presiding over an "immoral" amendment of the Senate Standing Orders that would disqualify the Senate President himself if applied retroactively. The dramatic demand, made during a media briefing at the National Assembly on Thursday, May 7, is the latest flashpoint in a deepening crisis that has pitted powerful senators against one another and exposed the raw, pre‑2027 political calculations now consuming the upper chamber.
At the heart of the firestorm is a controversial amendment to the Senate rules passed earlier this week, which requires any senator seeking a top leadership position — including the presidency of the Senate — to have served at least two consecutive and uninterrupted terms in the chamber. The rule was widely interpreted as a targeted strike against incoming political heavyweights, most notably Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who is rumoured to be eyeing the Senate presidency after his gubernatorial tenure ends. But Oshiomhole, a former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and now a serving senator, turned the logic of the rule against its author, arguing that Akpabio himself would not meet the new requirement — and therefore cannot morally preside over a chamber whose rules he himself flouts.
"A Crisis of Moral Authority"
"The Senate President has presided over the passage of a rule that, if applied honestly, would render him ineligible to sit in that seat," Oshiomhole told journalists, visibly angry. "This is not a matter of legal technicality. It is a matter of moral crisis. How can you enact a law that you yourself cannot satisfy? It is the height of legislative hypocrisy, and the only honourable path for the Senate President is to resign immediately."
Oshiomhole's logic rests on a little‑known detail of Akpabio's senatorial career. The Senate President first entered the chamber in 2015 after serving two terms as governor of Akwa Ibom State. He was elected to a second term in 2019 but lost his re‑election bid in 2023 in a bitterly contested race. Akpabio's eventual return to the Senate — and his subsequent emergence as Senate President — was enabled not by an electoral victory but by a judicial ruling and the political engineering of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who backed him for the nation's number three office. The "two consecutive and uninterrupted terms" requirement, Oshiomhole pointed out, is a standard that Akpabio's own electoral journey does not neatly meet. "You cannot be a beneficiary of political flexibility and then turn around to write inflexible rules to keep others out," Oshiomhole argued. "That is the textbook definition of a rigged game."
The Heated Plenary Confrontation
The crisis did not begin with Thursday's press briefing. It had been simmering since Wednesday's plenary, where a visibly agitated Oshiomhole rose repeatedly to raise a point of order — only to be ignored by Akpabio, who ruled him out of order and warned that "unruly conduct would not be tolerated" in the chamber. The exchange, which was witnessed by a packed gallery and streamed live on the National Assembly's official channels, descended into a tense standoff. Oshiomhole, a veteran of Nigeria's political and labour trenches, refused to be silenced, accusing the Senate President of running the chamber like a "personal estate."
"I have seen a lot in this country — from the military era to the return of democracy — but what I witnessed in the Senate this week was a travesty," Oshiomhole said. "The Senate President refused to allow me to speak. He threatened me with sanctions for exercising my right to raise a point of order. This is not a parliament. This is a dictatorship." Other senators, speaking anonymously to Unuevbo TV, confirmed that the chamber has become increasingly hostile to dissenting voices since the rule amendment was mooted. "There is a siege mentality," one senator from the North‑West said. "If you speak out, you are targeted. The whip is being used not to enforce discipline but to silence debate."
The Uzodimma Factor
To understand the ferocity of the clash, one must understand the 2027 subtext. The Senate presidency is one of the most powerful positions in Nigeria, controlling the legislative calendar, committee appointments, and billions of naira in constituency project funds. In the post‑2027 political dispensation, the individual who occupies that seat will have enormous influence over the legislative agenda and the patronage network of the National Assembly. Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, whose second term ends in January 2028, has made no secret of his desire to swap the Imo Government House for the Senate President's seat, and his allies have been quietly canvassing support among incoming senators and party elites.
The rule amendment requiring two consecutive terms is seen by virtually every political observer as a firewall erected by the current Senate leadership to block Uzodimma. As a sitting governor, Uzodimma has never served in the Senate, and he would be entering the chamber as a first‑term senator in 2027 — a "fresher" under the new rules, and therefore ineligible for the top job. "The rule is not about legislative experience. It is about eliminating a specific political rival," said Dr. Fatima Abdullahi, a legislative analyst at the University of Abuja. "When a rule is written with a person in mind, it ceases to be a rule and becomes a weapon." Akpabio's camp has denied this characterisation, insisting that the amendment is designed to strengthen the institution by ensuring that only senators with proven legislative experience ascend to leadership. But the denial has found few believers in a political culture that has long treated Senate rules as instruments of factional warfare.
Akpabio's Camp Fires Back
Unsurprisingly, Akpabio's allies have dismissed Oshiomhole's resignation call as grandstanding. A senator from the South‑South who is close to the Senate President described Oshiomhole's argument as "legally incoherent and politically motivated." He said, "Senator Oshiomhole is upset because the rules do not favour his faction. He was a party chairman who could not deliver his own polling unit. He comes to the Senate and wants to dictate how the institution is run. The Senate is not a labour union; it is a legislative chamber."
The Senate President's media office released a statement on Thursday evening in which he declined to engage Oshiomhole's "personal attacks" but defended the rule amendment as a "necessary institutional reform." The statement said: "The 10th Senate is committed to strengthening the legislative arm of government. The amendments to the Standing Orders are designed to ensure that only senators with deep and verifiable legislative experience can occupy leadership positions. This is not about any individual; it is about protecting the integrity of the Senate." The response did not address Oshiomhole's specific point that Akpabio's own record would fail the new test, a silence that critics have seized upon as a tacit admission.
A Senate Divided
The confrontation has split the Senate along multiple lines. Senators from the North‑East, where Oshiomhole hails from, have largely rallied behind him, with some calling for a review of the rule amendment. Senators from the South‑South have closed ranks around Akpabio, viewing Oshiomhole's attack as an assault on regional political interests. The North‑Central, as is often the case in such battles, is divided, with some senators supporting the rule amendment on institutional grounds and others fearing it could be used against their own ambitions in the future. Complicating matters further is the fact that the Senate is not a static body: at least 35 new senators are expected to enter the chamber in 2027, many of them current governors and ministers who would be classified as "freshers" under the new rules.
"The irony is that the rule could end up blocking not just Uzodimma but a host of other qualified individuals — former governors, former ministers — who could enrich the Senate with executive experience," said Barrister Maxwell Amadi, a legislative governance expert. "And the real question is whether this rule will survive the courts. The Senate cannot pass a rule that contravenes the constitution, which specifies only age, citizenship, and educational qualifications for senators. Leadership selection is an internal party matter, not a matter for Standing Orders to dictate beyond what the constitution allows."
What Next for the Senate?
Oshiomhole has vowed to challenge the rule amendment through every available avenue — including, according to his aides, a possible court action. "We will test the legality of this rule in a court of law," he said. "The Senate cannot be a society for the protection of incumbents. It must be a house for all Nigerians, where merit and democratic principle, not manipulation, determine leadership." Legal experts say such a challenge would raise complex questions about the justiciability of internal legislative rules, but it could also draw the judiciary into the political thicket of Senate leadership fights — a territory the courts have generally avoided.
For now, the chamber remains tense. Senior senators are taking sides, alliances are being recalibrated, and the sense that the Senate is functioning less as a legislative body and more as a pre‑election battleground grows stronger by the day. Oshiomhole's resignation call may not force Akpabio from office — the Senate President retains the support of the majority needed to survive any vote — but it has inflicted a political wound that will fester. "You cannot lead an institution you have undermined," Oshiomhole said. "Akpabio's Senate presidency is now defined by a rule even he cannot meet. That is not leadership. That is a trap he set for himself." Whether the trap will snap shut, or whether Akpabio will navigate through the storm, will depend on the shifting loyalties of the senators who will ultimately decide Nigeria's legislative future.
A Chamber Transformed into a Battleground
The clash between Oshiomhole and Akpabio is not merely a personal feud; it is a symptom of a Senate that has become the primary arena for 2027 political positioning. The rule amendment at the centre of the crisis is a reminder that, in Nigeria, legislative procedures can be as fiercely contested as elections themselves. As senators choose sides and court cases loom, one thing is clear: the upper chamber will not return to being a quiet legislative workshop anytime soon. The battle for the Senate's soul — and its presidency — has only just begun.
Stay tuned to Unuevbo TV for more in‑depth coverage of the Senate power struggle, legislative manoeuvres ahead of 2027, and the personalities shaping Nigeria's political landscape.
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