Edo North Senator and former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has challenged TV journalist Dr. Reuben Abati to a street fight over what he perceives as repeated on-air criticisms.
Oshiomhole made this challenge during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Tuesday night.
Expressing visible agitation, Oshiomhole accused Abati of consistently attacking him from the Arise News Channel studio without providing fair context or acknowledging his contributions to national development.
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“If you want to abuse me, don’t hide under the TV. Let us meet on the streets and we fight it out,” Oshiomhole said, responding to what he termed Abati’s “consistent mischief and misrepresentation.”
He criticized Abati for minimizing his labor activism legacy, stating, “Even on Labour Day, he couldn’t credit me for leading protests. This is the same guy who once wrote, ‘Oshiomhole, the People’s President,’ when I was NLC president. Now he is asking, ‘What is my status?’”
Oshiomhole reminded viewers that Abati had previously criticized former President Goodluck Jonathan before later becoming his official spokesman.
“You don’t condemn pounded yam and end up consuming it all over,” Oshiomhole quipped. “After all that, the EFCC arrested him. Was I the one who granted him bail? Now he has left PDP and is where he is?”
He suggested that Abati’s attitude might stem from political disappointment, asking, “If you are angry because you wanted to become a deputy governor and you lost the election in Ogun State, is that the reason why you are so paranoid?”
The Senator also addressed a recent controversy regarding a comment he made at a political rally, which some interpreted as an endorsement of corruption. Oshiomhole clarified that the remark was misunderstood.
Recalling the rally, he said, “I jokingly told a young man who decamped from PDP to APC, ‘You have left the party of bad people, now you will live up to your father’s name, Iluobe,’ which in our language means, ‘I don’t do evil.’ This had nothing to do with corruption. The guy wasn’t even a public officer.”
Oshiomhole expressed disappointment in journalists who, in his view, failed to verify the facts or play the full video of the event. “They had the tape. It was covered live. Let them play it back and say, ‘Fact-check: this is what Oshiomhole said.’ But they chose mischief,” he said.
He also criticized a moment where Abati asked former Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, whether he sought Oshiomhole’s permission before defecting to the APC.
“I was shocked that a senior editor could ask Okowa, ‘Did you get permission from Oshiomhole that your sins will now be forgiven before you decided to decamp?’” he said.
“Okowa didn’t even understand the mischief in that question.”
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