Oshiomhole, Umahi fight dirty during budget defence session at senate

Oshiomhole

David Umahi, minister of works; and Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north; had a heated exchange on Wednesday in the senate.

Tensions rose amid scrutiny of the N15 trillion Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project, with Oshiomhole pressing Umahi on issues of funding transparency and delays.

A visibly agitated Umahi accused the senator of using “foul language” and disrespecting him.Both men are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Sir, are you judging or asking me questions?” Umahi had asked as Oshiomhole probed.

“You are not entitled to interrupt me,” Oshiomhole retorted.

A visibly furious Umahi responded with: “You can’t use foul language on me. I’m a distinguished Nigerian. You cannot speak to me in that manner.”

Oshiomhole, an ex-national chairman of the APC, fired back, with some of the senators and committee chairman taking sides with the former labour leader and scolding Umahi.

“Mind your language. You were in this senate for how long? Two months. Two-month senator,” one of the legislators lectured, tongue-in-cheek.

The committee chairman intervened, urging both men to maintain decorum and proceed.

Oshiomhole then shifted to commending President Bola Tinubu for terminating the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited funding model for road projects, describing tax credits as “very difficult to monitor transparency”. Thecable