Senate Presidency: My Chances Are Very High – Says Akpabio After Meeting With Tinubu
A front runner for the Presidency of the 10th Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has said his chances of clinging the top position is high because of his wide experience and antecedents.
Senator Akpabio made the claim on Tuesday while speaking with newsmen in Abuja shortly after a meeting with the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He had visited the President-elect to welcome him after his vacation abroad.
Accosted by Journalists to confirm if his meeting with the President-elect was to get his endorsement for his ambition to become the President of the Senate, Senator Akpabio said an aspirant for the position must get the support of maority of his fellow Senators.
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State said his chances were high because his colleagues were well aware of his experience which he would avail to serve the nation.
According to Senator Akpabio, “The office of the senate presidency is a function of the senators and particularly all the senators-elect including all those who are returning. They are all my colleagues.
“I’ve had the privilege of serving the Senate before as the minority Leader and so any Senator should be ready, if his colleagues so wish, to avail himself to be used as the senate president.
“So the chances for somebody like me will be very high because of the fact that my colleagues already know my tract records in terms of governance, legislative business and a wide range of experience I have had in politics,” he said.
Former Governor of Nasarawa State who also served with Senator Akpabio in the 8th Assembly, Senator Tanko Al-Makura said Senator Akpabio had paid his dues for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and should be supported to become the President of the Senate.
According to Senator Al-Makura, “my admonition to my colleagues and all Nigerians alike is to look at the trajectory and how one has to come around in the scheme of things.
“We should also look at the antecedence character and characteristics of the people angling for these positions. And I can say without any fear of contradiction that the people that are putting themselves up for these positions are people that are eminently qualified and have paid their dues.
“Among them is Senator God’swill Akpabio, someone who had been there, who at the time that it mattered most had worked for the APC. He did everything that he could to ensure the stability of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“And as a Minority Leader he decided to leave his position, a principal position within the scheme of the Senate Leadership to Support the APC administration. Senator Akpabio is well qualified for the position of the Senate President,” he said.
Ibom Focus had earlier reported how Tinubu received Akpabio in Abuja After he returned from France
