Akpabio Sends Peter Obi to Cleaners at Senate Sitting, Urges Leadership in Labour Party Crisis

Senate President Godswill Akpabio delivered a stinging rebuke to Labour Party leader and former presidential candidate Peter Obi during a Senate plenary session this week, accusing him of lacking the leadership required to manage Nigeria’s complex national challenges.

Akpabio’s remarks came during a debate that touched on party leadership, national unity, and the role of political figures in fostering stability.

In his address, the Senate President criticized Obi’s perceived inability to resolve internal crises within his own political party, questioning his capacity to address broader national issues.

“When somebody makes a statement that the labours of our heroes have passed, I beg to disagree.”

Akpabio began. “Let our brother, Peter Obi, show leadership like Edwin Clarke did, by resolving first the crisis in the Labour Party.”

He continued, “For a man who wants to run Nigeria, you have one of the smallest parties in Nigeria, and you cannot even resolve the crisis in that Labour Party. Is it the crisis of Boko Haram that you will come and resolve in Nigeria?”

Akpabio also used the opportunity to highlight his own track record as a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, pointing to infrastructural achievements such as dual carriageways, flyovers, international hospitals, and an acclaimed stadium.

“I can tell you about the best international hospitals in my state… the unity I brought in religion by sponsoring over 5,800 Muslims to the Holy Land and over 12,000 Christians to Rome and Jerusalem,” he stated.

He reserved particular criticism for social media activity by opposition figures, which he accused of inciting division rather than fostering national unity.

“Those who are aspiring presidential candidates and trying to cause division with their mouths, using social media tell them to resolve the small crisis in the smallest party they have in Nigeria first,” Akpabio said.

Akpabio concluded by invoking the memory of elder statesman Edwin Clarke, attributing his own comments to what Clarke “would have advised if he were alive,” before calling for a minute of silence in Clarke’s honour.

The Senate President’s remarks come amid ongoing internal conflicts within the Labour Party, which have sparked public debate about the party’s stability and its prospects in future elections.

Obi has yet to issue a public response.