10th Senate presidency: The cap fits Akpabio

By Lawal Jet Kaugama

Nigerian democracy is maturing even as the days and terms of office of its politicians are growing in years and experience.

The presidential election  had been conducted and the winner has emerged. what is in the lips of Nigerian electorate is how the new crop of politicians will create a better Nigeria for the uplift of the citizens as in all spheres of life. How  will Nigerians who queue in the rain and in sun to elect them reap the fruits of their hard labour, this time around, the dividends of democracy. 

And for the country to be good, Nigeria needs to assemble men and women who had  been tested and proved to be worthy of our collective trust. 

The good things of life and better life for Nigerian citizens begins with the National Assembly (NASS), both the Senate and House of Representatives need  lawyers and think-tanks like Godswill Akpabio to preside over their affairs.

Choosing Akpabio for the Senate job is not only to make  the equation balance as Nigerians would say, but to my understanding, it is due to his antecedents in previous offices and personal integrity and recognition.

Akpabio was governor if Akwa Ibom state, he was minister of Nigeria Delta Affairs, he is currently a Senator of the Federal Republic.  He is no longer a lawmaker whose election into the Senate Presidency will require on-the-job-training. He has run the gamut of political offices in current democratic governance.  He has built friendship across all geopolitical regions of Nigeria. 

A 10th Senate presided over byl Akpabio will mark a golden era for Nigeria’s law making business. With the pro-people policies of Akpabio as governor and minister, in the years past, he will definitely preside over a  robust legislation that will impact the life of his compatriots. 

  A  distinguished lawyer and politician, a former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, a strong promoter of the Tinubu candidacy, Akpabio deserves the Senate presidency.

Akpabio said the All Progressives Congress (APC) had the competence, capacity, ability and acceptance to win the 2023 presidential election and  his prediction has come to pass.  He remained steadfast and optimistic about the victory of his party across Nigeria and the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president-elect when other party chieftains were sceptical.

This man, despite court judgements against his senatorial ambition,  weathered the storm and came out victorious, proving that his popularity is unarguable.

 Prior to the presidential and National Assembly elections conducted on March 25, he told his people to go all out and campaign for all APC candidates knowing full well that the party had all it takes to win the election from the national to the states.

He painstakingly sold the president-elect Bola  Tinubu to his people, and they accepted him overwhelmingly.

 He said Tinubu had the capacity and ability, with past records of good governance and performance, to govern Nigeria better than his rivals.

 He added that Senator Bola Tinubu is a tested and trusted leader, who went into the presidential race as an achiever and performer in public office;  that  Tinubu stands for good governance and performance, and with the capacity to deliver  his electoral promises.

During his recent birthday celebration, Akpabio said he  was beginning to see Nigeria of his dream. Indeed, his dream for Nigeria is  situated in the realm of equal rights and opportunities for the citizens, a higher standard of living and increase in educational opportunities as well as employment for the jobless youths.

As Akwa Ibom governor, he approached governance with unprecedented enthusiasm in order to ensure that an Akwa Ibom child have equal opportunity as other children across the states in Nigeria. He believes that the  difference between the driver and the man at the back of the car is education.

This man also deserves the Senate Presidency due to his commitment to the unity of the country, where ethnicity and religion as divisive agents, will perform minimal roles.

Like President Muhammadu Buhari, Akpabio vowed to fight corruption. This is why he embraced the anti-graft war of the APC government under Buhari,  saying that corruption must be fought so that poverty will not kill the masses. He believes that to fight corruption, poverty must be first routed.

Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state and ex-Senate Minority Leader, identified three major issues affecting the nation, namely, insecurity, national integration, and the economy.  Against these menaces, he  vowed to tackle them to ensure Nigeria’s greatness in the comity of nations. This he can do it with ease as he was able to block leakages as well as embark on massive capital projects during his tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom state.

Recall that the only governor in Nigeria that was able to do 80 percent of capital allocation on a yearly basis and 20 percent recurrent was Godswill Akpabio.

He achieved this by plunging the loophole of leakages in the system and the result  is the outflow of capital projects in the state.

This is that man who had brought an uncommon transformation to Akwa Ibom state and Niger Delta,  and for this reason,  Nigerians will not be wrong to  entrust him with the 10th Senate presidency.

Kaugama, a commentator on national issues,  writes from  Dutse, Jigawa state.