Senate President: Akpabio Not Anointed Candidate — Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume has said that the nomination of Godswill Akpabio by the All Progressives Congress National Working Committee for Senate President does not make him the “anointed” candidate of the party for the position.

Ndume, the senator representing Borno South District, said this while speaking on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Tuesday while reacting to the nomination of Akpabio as Senate President for the 10th Assembly.

Daily Report Nigeria on Monday reported that APC NWC nominated Akpabio for Senate President and Abbas Tajudeen as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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According to Ndume, the nomination does not spell automatic status for Akpabio, adding that senators will still vote to determine the leader of the Red Chamber of the 10th National Assembly.

He said, “I don’t think anointed is the right word to use. The APC has Akpabio as its preferred candidate, that would be a better word,” he said.

“Not anointed but preferred candidate. Because if it is anointed then it is fait accompli, which is not the case. We have to go into the chamber and vote, and it can go anywhere.

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“Akpabio is going to be first among the equals as president of the senate. It is going to take the remaining 108 of us to restore integrity to the Senate.”

Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State has enjoined multiple endorsements to be the next Senate President for the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.