10th NASS: Akpabio warned against meddling in minority leadership

The president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has been counselled not to meddle in the process leading to the election of the minority leader of the 10th Senate, saying such move could destabilise the Red Chamber.

A group, PDP Action 2023, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, charged Akpabio to avoid meddling in the issue of Senate minority leadership but concentrate on assisting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver sound legislation and good policies to ensure good governance in Nigeria.

The group expressed surprise why some elements in the majority party and their collaborators were desperate to control the leadership of the minority parties in the Senate.

The statement, signed by its chairman, Dr Rufus Omere, noted, “Since the issue of minority leadership of the 10th Senate became topical, the media has been awash with contrived, manufactured, sponsored,  desperate, irresponsible and generally distasteful stories planted by people with inordinate ambition to stifle the voices of opposition and future accountability in the 10th Senate.”

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The group said that since some party members zeroed in on Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, “Detractors have levelled all sorts of spurious and unfounded allegations against him.”

The group, however, said Tambuwal had shown himself to be “a team player,  responsible and sophisticated leader with bright ideas on the development of Nigeria,” adding that he didn’t betray the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the country in his eight years as Sokoto State governor.

“Why are they afraid of Tambuwal? Are they worried that he may become a stumbling block to the alleged plot for complete dictatorship in Nigeria?

“Are they afraid that he might mobilise his colleagues to say no to certain anti-people policies being foisted on Nigerians? Are they afraid that he is not corrupt and has not soiled his hands in his years at the highest echelon of public service? Part of the statement reads.