Akpabio explains why he wants to become Senate Minority Leader

Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State Godswill Akpabio has explained why he wants to be the Senate Minority Leader. The PDP has zoned the position to the South-south. Akpabio, who spoke in Abuja yesterday shortly after a meeting with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, said, “It is not a question of interest. It is a function of capacity, whether I have the capacity to lead my colleagues. My colleagues will decide. “You know, in the Senate, everybody is equal except our bosses who have been there for a long time like the ranking senators and all that. “So, once you are opportuned to be in the red chambers, you have equal rights, you can aspire to any position. “But you first have to be sure that your colleagues will be interested in your leading them. “I’m aware that my name has been mentioned severally by my colleagues and am consulting. At the end of my consultation with stakeholders of our party across the nation, I’ll be able to make an appropriate statement.” On the emergence of an opposition member, Ike Ekweremadu, as Deputy Senate President, Akpabio said that would ensure that issues before the legislature were examined in a more holistic and all encompassing bipartisan approach. “I think the development is very good for democracy because Ekweremadu was freely elected by senators,” Akpabio said. He added, “If you recall, he scored about 54 votes and the total number of PDP members in the senate are about 49. Which means he was accepted across party lines. “It is also possible that some of the senators of PDP did not vote for him and that we probably have more senators of the APC voting for him than the PDP. “But the major thing is that he was voted for across party lines. That’s the way the Senate wanted it. They want an experienced person to work with the Senate President and they want a very stable Senate. They want a Senate that will be productive, a Senate that will have serious continuity. “And I think it is good for politics and is also good for President Buhari, that at the end of the day, we have a Deputy Senate President who has been there before, who is not from the APC so that we can look at things from a wholistic point of view, from a national perspective and not always through party binoculars. “So, for me, I believe that the 8th Senate will achieve far more than the previous sessions did because of the fact that issues are going to be looked at not from a partisan point of view but in a bipartisan way. “I am very proud of the decision by the Senate. I stand by the Deputy Senate President and the Senate President and the Senate for what they have done”.