Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo) has said that he never alleged that signatures were forged during the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, PDP, Kogi Central by the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions.
Oshiomhole in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said: “My remarks during an appearance on AIT’s Politics Today were misrepresented, leading to the false impression that I accused some senators of forging signatures.
“The insinuation that I said signatures of senators were forged is a complete misrepresentation of what I actually said,” he said.
The former Edo governor said he fully agreed with the Senate spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu (APC-Ekiti) that no senator’s signature was forged in the process leading to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
According to him, no senator approached him with any complaint about forged signatures.
“The only comment I made is that one senator, who is a member of the committee, claimed that the signatures of attendance of some senators were attached to the final report.
“Any suggestion to the effect that I alleged that any senator’s signature was forged is completely untrue and should be disregarded,” he said.
Oshiomhole further noted that the issue of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension had been resolved and that the Senate had since moved on.
He explained that his comments arose during a discussion on a claim by the programme’s interviewer that Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, had described the matter as “the lowest point of the three years of the 10th Senate.”
Responding to that assertion during the interview, Oshiomhole said that if the Senate Leader indeed made such a statement, it deserved serious consideration because Bamidele was “not given to frivolities.”
The senator reiterated that no member of the Senate informed him that any signature had been forged and expressed regret over any unintended consequences of his remarks.
“Finally, I regret if my comments may have caused embarrassment to any senator or the 10th Senate as an institution”, he said.
