Breaking: Oshiomhole Backtracks on Senate Signature Controversy, Insists “I Never Said Signatures Were Forged”

By Reporter

ABUJA — Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole has moved swiftly to douse mounting controversy over reports suggesting he accused members of the Senate of forging signatures in the explosive suspension saga involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

In a strongly worded disclaimer released on Tuesday, the former Edo State governor and influential senator declared that his comments during a recent AIT interview had been “grossly misrepresented,” insisting that he never alleged any forgery by lawmakers.

The clarification comes amid growing political tension and intense public scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, a matter that has continued to generate heated debate both within and outside the National Assembly.

“I did not allege that signatures of Senators were forged,” Oshiomhole stated emphatically, rejecting widespread interpretations of his televised remarks.

The senator threw his weight behind Senate spokesperson Senator Yemi Adaramodu, agreeing “absolutely” that no senator’s signature was forged during the suspension process.

According to Oshiomhole, the only observation he made during the interview was that a member of the committee involved had claimed that attendance signatures from some senators were attached to the committee’s final report. He stressed that this was merely a claim reported to him and not evidence of forgery.

“No Senator complained to me that his or her signature was forged,” he said, adding that any suggestion that he accused lawmakers of falsifying signatures was “completely untrue and should be disregarded.”

The dramatic clarification follows widespread reactions to excerpts from the interview, which many interpreted as exposing possible irregularities in Senate proceedings.

Oshiomhole also sought to put the Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan controversy firmly in the past, declaring that the issue had been settled and that the Senate had “since moved on.”

Explaining the context of his comments, the senator said he was responding to an interviewer’s reference to an alleged statement by Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who reportedly described the Natasha saga as “the lowest point of the three years of the 10th Senate.”

“If indeed the Senate Leader said so, it should be taken seriously because he is not given to frivolities,” Oshiomhole recalled saying during the interview.

In what observers see as a rare conciliatory note, the outspoken lawmaker 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 stated.

The development is expected to calm tensions within the Red Chamber, where speculation over alleged procedural irregularities had threatened to reignite divisions surrounding one of the Senate’s most controversial episodes in recent months.

For now, Oshiomhole’s message is clear: there was no allegation of forgery, no senator reported forged signatures to him, and the matter, in his view, should be considered closed.