Crisis is growing among senators in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who are threatening to disrupt the government if their president, Godswill Akpabio, does not address their concerns.
The angry senators are apparently planning to replace Akpabio as Senate President with opposition MPs, largely from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The disgruntled lawmakers intend to back Senator Abdulazeez Yari, who was previously beaten by Akpabio, in the hope that he will better represent everyone’s interests.
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These senators are reaching out to colleagues from other parties, including the PDP, Labour Party, and SDP, to see how Akpabio will manage the majority leader position.
Those in Akpabio’s camp, on the other hand, appear certain that the tension would fade once main offices and committees are assigned.
According to sources who spoke with Leadership, the senators’ move to dethrone Akpabio is very ambitious, given the difficulty of amassing enough votes for his ouster.
A Senator said, “The aggrieved lawmakers have a lot of work to do. To produce another president of the Senate, these aggrieved lawmakers will have to first remove Akpabio with at least 73 Senators (two-thirds of 109). That is only possible if Akpabio did not give the North the office of the Senate leader.”
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Another senator from the North-Central said, “There is no senator that is trying to leave the APC. The Senate has just been inaugurated and every senator wants to be carried along, especially those from the opposition. There is no APC senator that will want to defect now because there is great implication. But the lawmakers can still be in the APC and work against Akpabio.
“Some people are just planting stories that 22 Senators from the APC want to join the PDP. No senator will take that risk because before you remove the president of the Senate, you must have 73 senators. So, people raising that kind of alarm are just flying a kite.
“We don’t see that happening but if they sideline people who worked for Akpabio’s emergence, more than that number will join the opposition camp, not another political party, to get a new leadership.
“About 24 senators keyed into the Akpabio project because some influential lawmakers in the North were leading the campaign. If Akpabio did not ensure balancing in the Senate leadership, especially the principal officers, these 24 lawmakers will now align with the 22 aggrieved APC senators. With about 46 senators in Yari’s campaign, Akpabio will not last in that seat because the Northern senators want the position of the Senate leader.
“We learned that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele is being positioned for the office of the Senate leader. If that is done, the Northern senators will not be happy with Akpabio and that will be the beginning of his problem.
“So, Akpabio must ensure that the Northern senators are pacified with the principal offices. So, the ball is in Akpabio’s court.”
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