Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North in the National Assembly, has challenged Reuben Abati, a broadcaster and former presidential aide, over what he calls “mischievous” questions posed during a recent TV appearance.
Oshiomhole expressed shock over Abati’s comment on Arise Television, where he suggested that Okowa required Oshiomhole’s permission to join the APC, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
“I was shocked that a senior editor would ask the former Delta state governor, Okowa, with all due respect, if he had obtained Oshiomhole’s permission to have his sins forgiven before joining the APC?, Oshiomhole said.
The former Edo governor rebuked the implication that he played a gatekeeping role in the decisions of other politicians.
“How can you ask that? What is my status? I am in the legislature. Is the legislature responsible for the prosecution of anyone wrong in any way?” he asked.
Oshiomhole also referenced Abati’s past dealings with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which led him to question the journalist’s moral integrity.
“The man who made that statement was at a time invited by the EFCC after he was Jonathan’s spokesman, shamelessly. Thereafter, EFCC arrested him. Was I the one who granted him bail to leave PDP to go where he is?” he added.
Oshiomhole expressed disappointment over Abati’s Labour Day commentary, which omitted his contributions to Nigeria’s labour movement.
“Even on Labour Day, he was saying some labour leaders who had been involved in picketing and fought for workers; he could not even credit me with the fact that I led the protest. This is a guy who wrote ‘Oshiomhole the people’s president’ when I was president of the NLC,” Oshiomhole said.
Oshiomhole was blunt, telling Abati to air his grievances privately, rather than publicly. He said that instead of being credited for his achievements, Abati claimed that after leaving the NLC, people become governors.
“If you are angry because you wanted to be a deputy governor and you lost an election in Ogun state, is that the reason you are paranoid, using every opportunity to abuse me? If you want to abuse me, don’t hide behind the TV; let’s meet in the street and fight it out.”
