A Senatorial aspirant of the Northern Senatorial District in the Cross River State All Progressive Congress (APC) primaries held last year, Barrister Cecilia Omonya Adams, has drummed support for Senator Godswill Akpabio’s bid to occupy the seat of Senate President in the 10th National Assembly (NASS) expected to be inaugurated on June 13.
Barrister Adams who stated this in an interaction with newsmen in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, noted that since the enthronement of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, no one from the South-South geopolitical zone of the country has held the position of Senate President.
According to her, “Now is the right time in fairness and equity, for the zone to have one of its own occupy the coveted seat of the Senate President.”
The APC stalwart added that “Senator Godswill Akpabio is the right man for the position, having done well in delivering greater successes for the party in the just concluded 2023 general election by not only winning his senatorial seat, but garnering 132,683 votes for the presidential election in Akwa-Ibom State for President-elect, His Excellency, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
“In view of the above, and in line with the APC Governors’ memo to the president-elect, His Excellency, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu on the appropriate zoning of the offices which requested the contributions to the presidential election as a major factor, the South-South carries the day against the voting pattern of the South-East that exhibited exclusionary electoral conduct,” the legal practitioner turned politician noted.
The former senatorial aspirant further stated that “The excellent track records of experience in political governance and administration that Senator Akpabio has acquired, qualified him more than his fellow contenders for the position of the Senate President, having served as a Commissioner, a Governor, a Minister of the Federal Republic and a ranking member of the Senate who sacrificed his political career by accepting to give up his position as the Minority Leader in the Senate when he defected to the All Progressive Congress.”
Others reported to be in the Senate Presidency race, apart from Akpabio are Uzor Orji Kalu, the current Senate Chief Whip, Osita Izunaso, Senator-elect for Imo West Senatorial District, Sani Musa, the senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, former Edo State governor and ex-National Chairman of APC, who as a first termer is being affected by rule of ranking in the choice of NASS leadership.
Governor David Umahi who is also eyeing the Office of the Senate President has stepped down for Akpabio that appeared to be the man APC leadership and governors on the platform of the party have settled for to occupy the country’s number-three seat. Senator Barau Jibrin, Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriation, who equally had the aspiration of becoming the Senate President in the 10th Senate, seemed to have dropped that ambition and he is now being reportedly positioned to deputize Akpabio.