Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has dismissed reports claiming he was involved in a physical altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The allegations surfaced on Wednesday in a report by journalist Jackson Ude, who claimed that the two senators exchanged punches at the Senate cafeteria. In response, Bamidele labeled the story as “fake news” and urged the public to disregard it.
In a statement to the press, Bamidele described the report as baseless, saying:
“Our attention has been drawn to fake news currently being circulated on the X handle of one Jackson Ude, a known serial blackmailer and cash-and-carry journalist.”
He clarified: “The post is about an alleged altercation and physical fight between the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, and the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday. For the record, Senator Bamidele has never been involved in physical assault in over two decades of his political career, not even during his time as President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).”
Bamidele further alleged that the report was designed to create tension within the Senate and destabilize the political system.
“We are aware that the fake news is meant to cause disaffection within the Senate and, by extension, heat up the political system,” he said.
To refute the claims, he highlighted his joint engagement with Akpabio during the visit of the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. YU Dunhai, on the same day the alleged incident was said to have occurred.
“To think that the Senate Leader, the Senate President, and other principal officers of the Senate jointly received the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria shortly after plenary on Wednesday is a significant testimony against Ude’s imagination. Furthermore, photographs of the Chinese envoys with the Senate leadership were widely published in today’s national newspapers.”
Bamidele added that both he and Akpabio left the National Assembly premises together in the same vehicle that day, reinforcing the falsity of the report.