Posted by Chinenye on Fri 08th May, 2026 - tori.ng
Political tension has intensified in Nigeria’s Senate as Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, publicly called for the resignation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio over newly amended standing orders governing leadership elections in the upper chamber.
(Senate President Godswill Akpabio(L) and Senator Adams Oshiomhole(R). photo by the whistler news)
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has been asked to resign by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North.
The recent modification to the Senate Standing Orders governing the election of presiding and senior officers in the upper house has caused tension.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Oshiomhole claimed that a "moral crisis" was the cause of the revised restrictions.
He asserted that Akpabio no longer satisfies the moral and procedural requirements to continue leading the chamber under the new framework under discussion.
"This rule has a serious moral crisis," Oshiomhole stated.
During his first tenure, the Senate President emerged as a minority leader. Now that he is in charge, he is requesting that we alter the rules such that people who have served one term are not even eligible to run.
Even if you include both the prior and current terms, the Senate President has not served eight years in office as of right now.
"Therefore, he must leave by example by resigning because he is presiding without obtaining the required qualifications if we pass the rule that we must do eight consecutive years before you can become Senate president."
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele's proposal, which was approved under the direction of Deputy Senate President Jubril Barau, was the reason for the reversal.
The pool of candidates was essentially reduced under the previous regulations, which limited the eligibility of senators to run for principal seats to those who had served two terms, one of which had to be the term immediately preceding the nomination.