Akpabio Should Be In Jail, Not Leading Senate, Says Veteran Journalist Tola Adeniyi

Veteran journalist and former Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of Daily Times newspaper, Chief Tola Adeniyi, has stated that Senator Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, should be in prison rather than holding a leadership position in the upper legislative chamber.

Adeniyi made this remark during an appearance on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by broadcast journalist Edmund Obilo, where he commented on the ongoing multi-billion Naira fraud case and the sexual harassment allegations involving Senator Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central.

“It’s not funny at all. The dilemma is still part of the madness that we’re going through in this country. How could someone like Akpabio be the leader of the Senate? The Senate, even in Roman times, was the most respected political class,” Adeniyi said.

He continued, “Akpabio should be in prison. In a decent society, Akpabio should be in prison, and many people like him should be in prison. Go and read what the EFCC said about him; they never closed the case, they just silenced the EFCC. When someone stole N44 billion, N90 billion—charges against one man—and the charges have not been vacated.”

Adeniyi further questioned Akpabio’s presence in government, stating, “You see him going around with siren-blowing people and he goes about shamelessly. He should be in prison. People like him should be in prison. He has no business being in government, he has no business being in charge of a country like Nigeria. He’s the Number 3 citizen for God’s sake.”

Reflecting on Akpabio’s performance as Senate President, the veteran journalist said, “He has just been clowning; I can’t point at whatsoever he has done or what the Senate itself has done. I can’t point out anything that they’ve done.”

Adeniyi went on to criticize the Senate President’s character, describing him as “a man that is already on the ground,” and said that “ordinarily, he’s a plebeian, he’s a nobody.” He added, “People like him are people living on the mat, but the Nigerian situation is all about hypocrisy, the servitude—all these people saying ‘ranka ya dade’ to him, making him feel he’s on top of anywhere, and making Nigerians feel that he’s on top of anywhere.”

Adeniyi also weighed in on the sexual harassment allegations leveled against Senator Akpabio by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. He said, “When you say you’re the Senate President and you’re accused of sexual harassment, you don’t sit in judgment in a case that involves you. Nigeria is a joke.”

He continued, “Natasha has the right to accuse somebody if she has grounds to accuse and they should have listened to her instead of shutting her down and doing the needful. Ask people to interrogate and investigate, and if they find her to be frivolous, punish her, and if they find the other man culpable, punish him. But things don’t work like that in Nigeria because it’s not a normal country; it’s a very abnormal country. Sick.”

Adeniyi’s comments echo widespread dissatisfaction with the political elite in Nigeria, and particularly with the leadership of the current Senate President, sparking a broader conversation on governance and accountability in the country.