A former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, Prince Kassim Afegbua, and some Senators-elect from the North-West, have debunked the news report making the rounds that Senator Godswill Akpabio has dropped his Senate Presidency ambition for a South-Easterner, describing the rumour as fake and figment of the imagination of the author and his cohorts.
In a statement, Afegbua maintained that Senator Akpabio is still in the race and looks good to clinch the number three seat as all odds are in his favour.
Also Read: 10th NASS: Zone Senate Presidency to North West, not South East — Adamu Garba
Afegbua stated that the former Minister, two-time Governor of Akwa Ibom State and former Minority Leader of the Senate, was engaging groups and individuals and will never be distracted, stressing further that the bid was in top gear and there was no going back.
Also, speaking on condition of anonimity, three Senators-elect from the North-West told our reporter after a meeting that rewarding the South-East with the Senate Presidency will amount to great injustice to the South-South zone and Senator Akpabio, who worked hard for the party’s victory at the elections.
The senators through their caucus leader, maintained that, “we were shocked at the news of withdrawal and we immediately reached out to confirm and we are happy it was a fake story.
“Secondly we are aware that one or two senators from our zone are interested in the Senate Presidency but we must be sensitive to other faiths. It will be dangerous to have another Muslim as Senate President and that is the honest truth, our brother Senator Barau who is the leading candidate from the North-West knows this much, the leadership of our party knows this, the President-elect knows this and Nigerians certainly won’t accept this particular one.
“So we are saying, yes we brought huge votes for the party but we can’t go that way, you cannot simply say South-East should take the Senate Presidency, you must look at what they brought to the party. Politics is about interest. Others cannot work hard for others to benefit. The South-South worked hard and should reap the reward of hard-working.”
The Senator pointed out that: “it is sad that the South-East have no faith in our party, they hardly even have faith in their political leaders. So it will be wrong and bad precedence to zone the Senate Presidency to the South-East. It is the right of the South-South and they should have it, that is the right thing to do and I tell you this, if the party does not take this into account, it will be shocked at the end of the day.
“Look! Like many have said including some analysts, the scenario and dynamics of 1999 and 2003 are completely different. The PDP had the South-East as its stronghold in the South, so it was convinent to zone the Senate Presidency there. Today it is different, the APC is stronger in the South-South and those talking about South-East must understand that votes gave us victory not primordial sentiments. It is because of votes that the North-Central is in the contest for Speakership against the North-West and it’s understandable, look at what the party did in Benue, Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Nassarawa except Plateau but they did well, so what is the South -ast saying? We must stop this grandstanding and do what is right. Our party must have a reward system that is fair. So Senator Akpabio should be picked from the South-South to lead our 10th National Assembly, that is the position of many of us. That’s all we are saying with the hope that the leadership of our party will do the needful. If they feel they can’t micro-zone, then they should just take away other geo-political zones and leave it open for the South so that the zones there will test there popularity, that’s the least the party should do.”
He maintained that the position of some that an Igbo Senate Presidency will end restiveness and agitations in the South-East was just dramatic, asking that: “are those people also aware that there can also be renewed restiveness in the South-South should they be denied the Senate Presidency having contributed so much to the APC victory?”
