Senator Elisha Abbo, who was sacked as a senator by the court of appeal yesterday, is a Nigerian politician who has been involved in a number of controversies, both personal and political.
His latest was his accusation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio for plotting his removal by the court, which he said was due his refusal to support his bid to become the senate president.
He also alleged that four other senators, including Sen. Orji Uzo Kalu, are on their way to be removed, for the same reason.
But Mr. Abbo did not declare his source at the press conference yesterday where he made the allegations.
Akpabio reacted to the accusation, saying that the now sacked lawmaker is looking for scapegoats to blame for his ordeals.
But Mr. Abbo is not new to controversies.
Personal controversies
Abbo’s most famous controversy was when he assaulted a woman at a sex toy shop in Abuja in 2019.
He was allegedly drunk when he went to the shop to buy toys, but he accused the shop of poisoning the air in their AC, which was the reason he gave for his actions. PREMIUM TIMES obtained a footage of the incident where he was seen slapping the woman several times. He was later found guilty by a court in Abuja and fined N50 million.
Political controversies
Abbo has also been involved in a number of political controversies. In 2022, he kicked against his party’s Muslim-Muslim ticket flown by now president and vice president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and-Kashim Shettima.
His party members from his ward accused him of anti-party activities and made moves to stop him from contesting in the last election; which he has now, whichever way, lost to Rev. Amos Yohanna Kumai of the People’s Democratic Party at the court.
He also fought with the governor of his state, Mr. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, over the 2023 election.
He even swore that the governor would not win the election, but Fintiri ended up winning the election, piping his opponent to the finishing line in a hotly contested election.
Abbo’s preferred candidate, Mrs. Aisha Binani of the APC, lost the election.
The 44-year old former lawmaker told the world that he should not be called with his name again if Gov. Fintiri won the election.
Political career
Abbo joined politics in 2014. He was first in the APC, but moved to the PDP in 2017 when he met Former President Goodluck Jonathan.
On the platform of PDP, he won the election in 2019, but decamped to the APC a later.
He was re-elected in 2023 in the APC, but sacked in the same year by the Court of Appeal.
Senator Elisha Abbo is a controversial figure who has been involved in a number of scandals. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to overcome his controversies and rebuild his political career.
