Abuja: Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo) has stated that he never alleged that signatures were forged during the suspension of Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, PDP, Kogi Central by the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Oshiomhole in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, clarified that his remarks during an appearance on AIT’s Politics Today were misrepresented, which led to the false impression that he accused some senators of forging signatures. He emphasized that any insinuation claiming he said signatures of senators were forged is a misrepresentation of his actual words.
The former Edo governor affirmed his agreement with the Senate spokesperson, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu (APC-Ekiti), stating that no senator’s signature was forged in the process leading to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension. He mentioned that no senator approached him with complaints about forged signatures.
Oshiomhole explained that his comments were based on a claim by a committee member that the signatures of attendance of some senators were attached to the final report. He stressed that any suggestion of him alleging forged signatures is untrue and should be disregarded.
He further noted that the issue of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension had been resolved and that the Senate had since moved on. Oshiomhole clarified that his comments arose during a discussion on a claim by the programme’s interviewer that Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, had described the matter as ‘the lowest point of the three years of the 10th Senate.’
In response, Oshiomhole stated that if the Senate Leader indeed made such a statement, it deserved serious consideration because Bamidele was ‘not given to frivolities.’ He reiterated that no member of the Senate informed him of any forged signatures and expressed regret over any unintended consequences of his remarks.
‘Finally, I regret if my comments may have caused embarrassment to any senator or the 10th Senate as an institution,’ he concluded.