Can Akpabio Weather the Storm?

The recent unveiling of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the potential Senate President by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State may have rocked the boat for the immediate past Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs. Ejiofor Alike reports that with the selection of Akpabio apparently by external forces outside the Senate, he is facing stiff opposition, which may expose him to the proverbial Banana peels

Many incoming members of the 10th Senate were shocked recently when the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, publicly announced during a meeting in Calabar with the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, that the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio would be the next President of the Senate.

Giving an indication that Akpabio’s emergence was a fait accompli, Ganduje, who is not a member of the federal parliament, declared with an air of finality that nothing would change the plan.

Ganduje said: “The Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will come from the South-south and it is no other person than the former governor of Akwa Ibom State.

“The uncommon governor, the uncommon minister, who is going to be the uncommon President of the Senate. So, we have resolved that. I am giving you assurances; we are waiting for the D-Day that he will be the Senate President of Nigeria.”

The APC governors under the umbrella of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) had earlier recommended that the Senate President should be zoned to either South-east or South-south regions.

The announcement by Ganduje, who is neither an outgoing senator nor a senator-elect, confirmed the impression that Akpabio was the choice of external forces outside the 109-member Senate.

The outgoing governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, who was an aspirant for the Senate presidential position had apparently let the cat out of the bag when he unwittingly revealed the level of involvement of forces outside the Senate in the selection of Akpabio.

Umahi had publicly declared that he dropped his ambition because the President-elect, Bola Tinubu invited him and pleaded with him to pull out from the race for the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to emerge.

The governor made the disclosure while addressing journalists shortly after he had a meeting with Akpabio.

“My brother came on consultation with me. By yesterday, I saw the president-elect on his invitation and he told me that he is already committed and he said ‘please don’t run’ and I accepted and I stepped down for my brother, Senator Akpabio,” Umahi reportedly said.

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno), who was present, had also unwittingly confirmed that Akpabio was not necessarily the choice of the federal lawmakers but the preferred choice of the “president”.

“As you can see, I am leading the campaign for Akpabio because he is the president’s preferred candidate and we have to push for the country and the party above any other interest,” Ndume said.

Many analysts have argued that there is nothing wrong in Tinubu or the governors showing interest on who becomes the head of the National Assembly.

The refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to show interest on who emerged as the presiding officers of the eighthth National Assembly was believed to have led to the frosty relationship between his administration and the federal lawmakers.

However, many Senators-elect have argued that the way and manner Tinubu and the governors went about selecting Akpabio as if they were nominating a member of Tinubu’s cabinet undermines the independence of the legislature as an arm of the government and also makes mockery of separation of powers.

Many of the serving and the incoming senators have vowed to stop Akpabio.

In an apparent move to scuttle Akpabio’s bid, the outgoing Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, had ordered a probe into how a whopping N1.4 trillion was allegedly spent by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) without appropriation, on Akpabio’s watch as the supervising minister.

Lawan had allegedly protested against his emergence, citing his alleged dishonourable treatment of the federal lawmakers probing the NDDC when he was Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs.

But the most formidable opposition to APC’s zoning came from the North-central senators-elect who had written an open letter to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, rejecting the zoning arrangements because it excluded their region.

The elected federal lawmakers said only the North-central geopolitical zone did not produce any presiding officer.

The letter by the lawmakers-elect was signed by 18 senators-elect, including, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East), Senator Ashiru Oyelola Yisa (Kwara South), Senator Sadiq Umar Suleiman (Kwara North), Senator-elect Mustapha Saliu (Kwara Central) and Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East).

Others were Senator Abba Moro (Benue South); Senator Godiya Akwashiki (Nassarawa North), Senator-elect Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nassarawa West), Senator-elect Ireti Kingibe (FCT), Senator-elect Sunday Karimi Steve (Kogi West), Senator-elect Ohere Sadiku Abubakar (Kogi Central) and Senator-elect Peter Ndalikali Jiya (Niger South).

The rest include: Senator-elect Napoleon Binkap Bali (Plateau South), Senator-elect Mwadkion Simon Davou (Plateau North), Senator-elect Diket Plang (Plateau Central),Senator-elect Mohammed O. Onawo (Nassarawa South), Senator-elect Emmanuel M. Udende (Benue East) and Senator-elect Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue West).

Even the Chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu had condemned the zoning arrangement, describing it as skewed.

Akeredolu, in a press statement he personally signed last Wednesday, said the purported arrangement stood logic on its head as one geo-political zone, North-west, would be favoured with two presiding officers out of four while the North-central, despite its loyalty to the party, won’t have any.

Also, after a meeting held at the Maitama residence of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (Young Progressibes Party, Anambra South), the senators-elect from the South-east across party lines had in a communique vehemently kicked against the zoning by the APC.

Aside from Senator Ubah who read the communique, others present at the meeting were Senators Orji Kalu, (APC, Abia North); Enyinnaya Abaribe, (APGA, Abia South); Victor Umeh (Labour Party, Anambra Central) and Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West).

Others are: Senators Ezenwa Oyewuchi (LP, Imo East); Tony Nwoye, (LP, Anambra North) Patrick Ndubueze, (APC, Imo North); Okey Ezea, ( LP, Enugu North); Kelvin Chukwu (LP, Enugu East); and Osita Ngwu ( PDP, Enugu East).

Also, the Senator-elect for Zamfara West, and Senate presidential aspirant, Abdul’Aziz Abubakar Yari, had also rejected the adoption of Akpabio, insisting that the contest would be based on constitutional provisions and not instructions by anyone.

The Senator representing Borno South, Ndume, who apparently saw the danger ahead, had attempted to clarify that the former governor was not the “anointed” candidate but a preferred candidate.

Speaking on ARISE News Channel, Ndume had argued that describing Akpabio as the anointed candidate would connote a “fait accompli,” which he said does not represent the situation.

At no time since 1999 did the members of the Senate publicly denounce the choice of their presiding officers as they rejected the choice of Akpabio.

With pressure being mounted against him, many are wondering if he can weather the storm without stepping on the proverbial banana peels.