Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to step down over the controversial amendment to the Senate Standing Orders.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, the Edo North lawmaker described the proposed eligibility conditions for principal offices in the Senate as a “moral crisis” within the leadership of the upper legislative chamber.
Oshiomhole argued that Akpabio himself would not qualify under the amended rules currently being advanced by the Senate leadership.
“This rule has serious moral crisis. The senate president became minority leader on his first term. He is now the one presiding and asking us to change those rules even those who have done one term can’t even contest,” he said.
The former Edo State governor further questioned Akpabio’s eligibility under the proposed framework.
“As we speak today, the senate president has not done eight years in office even if you count the previous one plus the current one.
“So if we pass the rule that we must do eight consecutive years before you can become senate president, it means he has to leave by example by vacating because he is presiding without acquiring the appropriate qualification,” he added.
Oshiomhole also criticised what he described as attempts to alter established parliamentary procedures for political advantage, referencing former Senate President David Mark as an example of leadership achieved under the previous rules.
“More offensive to me is that as leaders who are products of by-laws, we must not make laws to perpetrate anyone. David Mark had the honour and privilege of serving as senate president for eight years, not by playing by the rules.
“Those rules that enabled David Mark to preside for eight years, what happened to them? Why changing them now because he fears that more senators will be eligible which will broaden the competitive base,” Oshiomhole stated.
The controversy follows the recent amendment to the Senate Standing Orders, which now provides that only senators who have completed at least two uninterrupted and consecutive terms can contest for positions such as Senate President and other principal offices in the 11th National Assembly.
