Former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared his full support for Godswill Akpabio’s election as Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.
Those who oppose Akpabio’s selection, according to Wike, are only attempting to stymie President Bola Tinubu’s administration by creating a schism between the executive and legislative branches of government.
According to the former Governor, who was quoted by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, in a statement in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, those working against Akpabio’s emergence are those who previously fought against Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
Wike was said to have submitted that it is right for the south-south to produce the next Senate President because the region has only produced one Senate president, Joseph Wayas, back in 1979, while the Southeast has produced over seven.
He said:
There is something going in the country now about the Senate presidency and the House leadership, and everybody knows my position. My position is that the (Senate) presidency should come to the South-South. We are not talking about the presidency of the country now, we are done with that.
If you agree that (Senate) presidency should go to the south, tell me the truth, where should it go? It can’t be in the Southwest. It can’t be in the Southeast. Southsouth has only produced one Senate president, far back in 1979, Joseph Wayas. Southeast has produced over seven.
He also stated that the Tinubu administration should be allowed to begin on a positive note with the legislative arm by supporting the President’s preferred candidate and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party (All Progressives Congress) and the President appear to have a soft spot for Akpabio. I would have thought that people will say, look allow this administration to start on a very good foundation, so nobody gives us excuses that why this administration could not start on good footing is because of the rancour between the executive and the legislature.”
If Mr. President doesn’t have a smooth administration, at the end of the day, who suffers? Is it not Nigerians? Let us believe that we are all one, let us give everyone a sense of belonging, he added.