The competition for leadership positions in Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly is heating up.
According to reports, in order to find a consensus aspirant for the Senate, President-elect Bola Tinubu presented a condition to former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godswill Akpabio.
According to Vanguard sources, Tinubu directed Akpabio to attest to his popularity for the Senate presidency race.
Tinubu reportedly asked Akpabio to persuade him by presenting 60 senators who he claimed had endorsed him for Senate President.
According to one of the sources, Akpabio followed Tinubu to Rivers State during the week in order to persuade him.
Senator Akpabio spoke at a state banquet in Port Harcourt honoring the President-elect.
He took advantage of the opportunity to present the 41 senators-elect who had joined him in supporting Tinubu.
Akpabio said:
They (senators-elect) are the ones that are going to evaluate your policies. They are the ones that are going to advise on a daily basis and they are the ones that are going to show you total loyalty to bring peace to Nigeria.
Standing before you here are senators from NNPP, senators from Labour Party, senators from PDP, senators from YPP and senators from APC.
Mr. President, we have 109 senators but 60 of us were supposed to be here tonight. We did not have enough aircraft to convey everyone.
Meanwhile, sources claim that what occurred in Port Harcourt was staged.
At the time of publication, it was unclear whether Akpabio’s performance met the condition set by the president-elect for his endorsement.
According to sources, Tinubu may remain neutral in the leadership elections to avoid appearing biased, which could backfire if his preferred candidates do not win.
Senators Barau Jubrin, Orji Uzor Kalu, Sani Musa, Godswill Akpabio, Ali Ndume, Abdulaziz Yari, David Umahi, and Adams Oshiomhole are among those running for Senate President. Umahi and Oshiomhole are both new senators.
Discussion about this post