A former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has
called on Nigerians and members of the incoming 10th National Assembly not to
assess him using his brief tenure as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Akpabio said he preferred to be judged by his record as a
lawyer of 36 years, commissioner for six years and a governor for eight years.
He stated these in an interview with journalists in Abuja on
Saturday night.
Akpabio, who is senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West, is one of the contenders for the office of the Senate President for the 10th National Assembly, scheduled for inauguration on June 6.
He was first elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2015 from
where he became the Minority Leader on the platform of the Peoples Democratic
Party but later defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Akpabio resigned his position as the Minister of Niger Delta
Affairs to contest the presidential primaries of the APC for the 2023 general
elections but later stepped down for the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Though he is the preferred candidate of the President-elect
and APC, a former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and the Senate
Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, have vowed not to step down from the Senate
Presidency race.
“I do know that I have not changed in any way. I am somebody
God has given the opportunity to be an uncommon transformer wherever I go. I
will not like to be judged by ministerial appointment for Niger Delta, which
everybody knows is a problematic place. But I would like to be judged by my
record as a lawyer of 36 years, commissioner of six years and a governor of
eight years,” Akpabio said.
It will be recalled that in July 2020, while in office as
the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Akpabio
appeared before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Niger Delta
in a forensic audit hearing of the N81.5bn spent by the ministry between
January and July 2020.
A mild drama, however, ensued during the probe, when, while
speaking to the corruption allegations levelled against him, the former Akwa
Ibom State governor was told to “off your mic” by a member of the committee,
leading to the popular phrase, “Honourable Minister, off your mic.”
On his Senate Presidency ambition, Akpabio promised that if
elected, he would sustain the January-December budget cycle initiated by the
9th National Assembly.
According to him, the introduction of the January-December
budget cycle is one the major success stories of the outgoing Assembly.
He also explained his relationship with some of his
colleagues opposing his ambition.
“On the issue of whether somebody is supportive or not, that
is not the issue. The issue is that we must continue to engage. God has put us
together for the next four years.
“We must continue to speak to people so that whatever
perception they have which are really not correct about me will be totally
debunked,” he said.
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