Former Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike has vowed to assist Godswill Akpabio in his bid to become the Senate President of the tenth National Assembly.
Wike asserts that those opposed to Akpabio’s selection are merely attempting to obstruct President Bola Tinubu’s administration in order to foster animosity between the executive and legislative branches of the government.
The former governor claimed that those working against Akpabio’s ascent are the same people who earlier opposed Tinubu’s bid for the presidency, as quoted by his media assistant Kelvin Ebiri in a statement made in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
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Wike was reported to have claimed that it is proper for the South to produce the next Senate President because the region had only produced one Senate President—Joseph Wayas—since 1979, compared to the Southeast’s more than seven. This is supposed to have strengthened his support for Akpabio.
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 continued by saying that the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership and the President’s preferred candidate should be supported in order to allow the Tinubu government to begin its relationship with the legislative branch on a friendly note.
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“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.
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