Headlines
My Slapping Incident Occurred in March, Sen Abbo Defended as Nigerians React
By Eric Elezuo
The senator representing Adamawa North senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Elisha Abbo, has defended that the trending video depicting him slapping a nursing mother repeated was shot in March. The 41 years old senator, who is the youngest in the Senate, says he is putting his team together, and will give a ‘robust response’ to the story soon.
Reacting to the incident, Abbo said the incident portrayed in the video showing him beating up a lady in a sex toy shop occurred in March 2019.
Abbo reacted in a message sent to Punch correspondent, “Hello Eniola, I saw your message and I am aware of the report. I am putting my team together. I am aware that the thing happened around March this year but I will get in touch with you when we finish discussion. I am in a meeting now.”
The senator has attracted criticisms from Nigerians after being caught on video posted by Premium Times, slapping a nursing mother repeatedly at a sex toy shop in the Wuse 2 area of Abuja.
The assault, which reportedly occurred on May 11, 2019, was done in the presence of an armed policeman who rather than assist the victim, arrested her.
BACKGROUND
Report has it that Abbo entered the shop around 6pm. with three young women to purchase adult toys.
But shortly after they began shopping for the toys, one of the three girls started throwing up. She vomited multiple times, prompting the shop owner to remark that the woman should have vomited outside and not inside her shop.
Abbo, who was said to be agitated by the sudden illness of the girl, was said to have accused the shop owner of poisoning the store’s air conditioner.
The shop owner’s argument that if the air conditioner had been contaminated others in the shop would have also taken ill was said to have angered Abbo, and the two began exchanging words over the matter.
The senator was said to have called a policeman who he then ordered to arrest the shop owner.
The shop owner quickly called her father to inform him that Abbo had called police over the matter and that she was about to be taken away.
The shop owner’s friend who had been standing nearby tried to intervene by pleading with the second man to take things easy but was slapped repeatedly by the lawmaker.
REACTIONS
Meanwhile, the video has sparked outrage on social media.
On Twitter, the lawmaker is trending under #SenatorElishaAbbo.
Mr Marcus tweeted, “You can see the motor park behaviour of a so-called Senator Elisha Abbo. You are a beast and you need to be behind bars.”
Another Twitter user, Confidence Jonah, expressed shock that a policeman was complicit in the assault.
For Jack Obinyan, Abbo must be suspended indefinitely from the 9th National Assembly and prosecuted with immediate effect.
Muhd El-Bonga Ibrahim tweeted, “These are the kind of people we elect as lawmakers shamelessly slapping a sales employee multiple times. This is an embarrassment not only to Senator Elisha Abbo but the Senate as an institution and he is currently the youngest. The committee on ethics needs to act.”
The senator was elected under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
