The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has refuted claims that he is acting against the interests of the Yoruba people in the National Assembly. Dismissing the allegations as baseless and unfounded, Bamidele clarified that since his election, he has faithfully served Ekiti Central, Ekiti State, the South-west, and Nigeria as a whole.
In a statement issued through his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Wednesday, Bamidele challenged anyone with audio-visual or documentary evidence of his alleged misconduct to present it publicly. The senator's clarification followed false media reports attributing a statement to him that “If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.”
He firmly denied making such remarks and noted that he had not commented on regional governance as per the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions during the 27th-28th September 2024 Senate Retreat on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. Bamidele stated, “The claim is far from the truth. I never spoke about the return to the regional government at any forum; neither did I make a claim that ‘If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.’ It is a sheer case of misinformation and deliberate fake news, which do not in any way represent my worldview about federal governance structure.”
The Senate Leader also warned that he would pursue legal action against those responsible for fabricating and spreading such false claims. He further noted that no proposal regarding a return to the regional government had been presented to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Bamidele emphasized that linking him to an anti-regional agenda was a deliberate effort to tarnish his image, reiterating his commitment to the Yoruba cause. “I am not working against the interest of the Yoruba. I will never do so for any reason,” he affirmed.
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