Akpabio On The Brink

• His Many Battles Unveiled
• Resign Or Be Impeached’ – NADECO USA Tells Akpabio
• How The Cold War Between Former Buddies Akpabio, and Ndume Boiled Over

These are certainly not the best of times for the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio as the former Akwa Ibom State Governor is currently fighting a tenacious battle to hold on to his position as the number 3 citizen in the country.

Akpabio had been tethering on the brink for a while now until things boiled over Tuesday, October 17, 2023, when his former buddy and campaign manager for the position of the Senate President of the 10^thSenate Ali Ndume walked out on him during plenary.

Akpabio and Ndume had been fighting a cold war before the implosion on Tuesday. The Matrix gathered that before their recent public falling out, Ndume had cautioned Akpabio over the hasty passages of bills in the Senate which were done without the contribution of members, a development that Ndume disclosed was not in the benefit of the country.

Ndume, the Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, (APC), lamented the rate at which the Senate President passes bills without formal reading and members’ contributions.

“You are just passing bills without prior notification, including money bills, you just pass bills within 2 hours without anyone’s contribution. This is not good for Nigeria”, he said.

This public challenge was said to have irked Akpabio who felt slighted and had been licking his wound silently while waiting for an opportunity to exact his pound of flesh.

The opportunity presented itself during plenary on Tuesday when the Senate President ruled Ndume out of order after he (Ndume) challenged Akpabio again.

Ndume had raised a point of order, citing Order 54 of the Senate Rule Book to draw the attention of the Senate President to his handling of affairs in the chambers, which were against the rules.

He said: “Mr. President there are some things we do in this chamber that are against the rules. Sir, nobody is too big to learn.”

Akpabio had hardly allowed Ndume to end his speech when he ruled him out of order.

A visibly enraged Ndume then stormed out of the chamber and went straight to his office.

This development forced the Senate President to convene an executive closed session.

This latest development is coming on the heels of a call by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), United States of America (USA) Chapter on Akpabio to resign over his alleged lacklustre handling of the affairs of the upper chamber or face impeachment proceedings.

The Coalition claimed that Akpabio, who was planted as the Senate President by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has completely subjugated his colleagues under the executive and eroded the independence and integrity of the legislature in Nigeria.

The Executive Director of NADECO USA, Mr. Lloyd Ukwu, in a statement issued on Tuesday, accused Akpabio of showing absolute disdain for the Standing Rules of the Senate as regards the order of proceedings, vibrant debates during plenary and thorough scrutiny of executive communications and bills.

To this end, Ukwu called on Senators to urgently commence impeachment proceedings against Akpabio “for making the upper chamber a laughing stock through naivety, immaturity and eagerness to please the executive, irrespective of the repercussions of his actions on the Senate as an institution and democratic governance in Nigeria.”

He said: “Akpabio is fond of keeping communications from the President which are supposed to be read during announcement time till the end of plenary, like he recently did when he announced the last three ministerial nominees by the President towards the tail end of plenary.

“Only recently, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC – Borno South) and Senator Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (SDP – Nasarawa South) openly accused Akpabio of not giving senators adequate opportunity to interrogate and scrutinize bills, especially money bills, and warned that history would judge him for approving executive requests and passing important legislations posthaste.”

Ukwu insisted that should Akpabio fail to resign or Senators fail to impeach him, NADECO USA would have no option but to mobilize its members in the USA and Nigerians in the diaspora for a mass action to ensure that he vacates office.

As if those battles were not enough, Adamawa North Senator, Elisha Abbo who was recently sacked by The Court of Appeal had accused Akpabio for been behind his travails.

Abbo said four other senators who worked against the emergence of Akpabio as Senate President had been penciled down to be sacked.

He alleged that Senator Orji Uzor Kalu was Akpabio’s next target. Abbo was among the Senators that campaigned for Senator Yari during the struggle to elect Senate President.

Reacting, Akpabio accused Abbo of looking for a scapegoat.

He disclosed this while speaking through his Media Aide, Eseme Eyiboh.

Addressing newsmen, Eyiboh said, “It is unfortunate if he actually said that Akpabio was responsible for his removal. That’s the swan song of a man looking for scapegoats.

“The Court of Appeal across the country decides cases based on the provisions of the Electoral Act and evidence advanced by petitioners. The Senate President has no reason to witch-hunt any of his colleagues.”

It is left to be seen how the Senate President will be able to wade through this crocodile-infested water and escape unscathed.