3 times Senator Oluremi Tinubu behaved like a ‘thug’ in the Senate

For the past few days, tales of the verbal altercation between Senator Oluremi Tinubu and Senator Dino Melaye have reigned on the airwaves and dominated social media discussions.

According to reports, Melaye had threatened to beat up, as well as impregnate Senator Tinubu, who happens to be the wife of the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.

At a press conference on Thursday, Melaye stated that the Lioness of Bourdillion had first attacked him, calling him a ‘thug’ and ‘dog’ at an executive session of the Senate.

This, the Kogi state Senator said, prompted him to unleash a series of unprintable words -including the ‘F’ word on Senator Tinubu.

The narrative about the face-off between both Senators had focused more on Melaye while Senator Tinubu had been excused and her actions – which going by Melaye’s account – instigated the whole situation.

While Senator Melaye is known for fighting on the floor of the House of Representative and uttering ‘unlegislative’ words, Tinubu’s excesses have been mostly overlooked or respectfully ignored.

So we decided to crawl through the inter-webs to find three instances Senator Tinubu has behaved like a ‘thug’ on the floor of the Senate.

1. Harassment of Obanikoro

In early 2015, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro was nominated for a ministerial position by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

On the day of his screening, Senator Tinubu was spotted vehemently opposing Obanikoro on the floor of the red chamber.

Obanikoro was alleged to have been part of those that ‘rigged’ the Ekiti state governorship election in 2014 which saw Ayodele Fayose of PDP floor Kayode Fayemi of the APC.

This triggered bad blood between both parties.

Watch video below:

2. The awkward moment when Oluremi Tinubu snubbed Bukola Saraki

During the inauguration of the 8th senate, Senator Oluremi Tinubu completely ignored the outstretched hands of Senate President Bukola Saraki even as other senators shook the hands of Saraki.

Saraki had worked against the wishes of his party to emerge as the President of the Senate and this pitted the Senate President against the APC establishment.

3. The seat-changing debacle

Days after the assassination attempt on Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu (a prominent member of the PDP), Oluremi Tinubu was spotted seating on the chair of Ekweremadu during plenary.

She, however, claimed that she relocated seats to have a quick chat with Senator Ali Ndume when Saraki asked her to second a motion.

In her defence, Tinubu also noted that her microphone was faulty hence why she changed seats.