Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomole, says senate president Godwill Akpabio should lead by example by vacating his office following amended standing rules for the election of presiding and principal officers in the upper chamber.
Mr Oshiomole, who stated this while speaking to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said the amended standing rules were characterised by moral crisis.
The lawmaker insisted Mr Akpabio lacked the requisite qualifications to preside as a Senate president based on the new new rules.
He stated, “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.
“As we speak today, the senate president has not done eight years in office even if you count the previous one plus thr 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 necessary qualification.”
Referencing the tenure of former Senate President David Mark, Mr Oshiomole warned that leaders who were products of by-laws should not alter them to impugn on the rights of others.
The lawmaker further accused Mr Akpabio of attempts to prevent others from contesting the position of president in the 11th Senate.
“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. So he wants to soak it. If other people are afraid, I am not,” he added.
Mr Oshiomole’s call for Mr Akpabio’s resignation came days after the duo clashed over the amended standing rules introducing stricter eligibility conditions for presiding offices.
The upper legislative chamber on Tuesday amended its rules to restrict eligibility for leadership positions to senators who had served at least two consecutive and uninterrupted terms.
