Senate leader denies alleged altercation with Senate President
The Office of the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has debunked reports of an alleged altercation and physical fight between him and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The rumour, which was circulated on the X social media platform by a journalist, Jackson Ude, has been dismissed as fake news aimed at tarnishing the image of the Senate leadership.
In a statement issued by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs of the Senate Leader’s Office on Thursday, it was clarified that Senator Bamidele has never engaged in physical assault in his over two decades of political career, including his time as President of the National Association of Nigerian Students.
In a post on X, Ude had said that “Bamidele had a big fight, holding themselves by the neck while exchanging blows on Tuesday at the Senate Cafeteria, according to an eyewitness.
“It took the immediate intervention of Senator Sani Bello of Niger State to stop what would have become a blood bath.”
The post added, “The physical attack between both Senate leaders exposed the deep division in the Senate over what is described as Akpabio’s poor leadership style.
“Insiders told me that Opeyemi’s grouse against Akpabio stemmed from Akpabio’s appointment of a Northerner as Senate Committee Chairman Petroleum, Upstream.”
However, the statement from the leader’s office described the report as a baseless fabrication designed to cause disaffection within the Senate and destabilise the political system.
“For the record, Senator Bamidele has never been involved in any form of physical altercation, not even in his younger years as a student leader.
“It is surprising that such a false narrative is being circulated by a known purveyor of fake news to smear the reputation of the Senate Leader,” the statement read.
The office further noted that the Senate President and Senate Leader were together on Wednesday, shortly after the plenary session, to receive the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. YU Dunhai, and his delegation.
Additionally, it was revealed that both the Senate President and Senate Leader left the National Assembly premises together in the same vehicle on the day the alleged incident supposedly occurred.
In response to the circulation of the false report, the Senate Leader warned against such unprofessional behaviour, stating that he would not hesitate to take legal action to protect his reputation and office under the Cybercrime Act of 2015.
He added, “This time again, the Senate Leader is sounding a note of warning to all attention seekers in the ilk of Ude to be careful and not take the Leader’s gentlemanliness for granted.
“Henceforth, the Leader will be forced to use the instrumentality of the law to protect himself and his office as enshrined in the CyberCrime Act 2015.
“We, therefore, urge the public to disregard this misinformation and treat it with the disrespect it entirely deserves.”
