Senator Kashim Shettima, the vice president-elect, has provided explanations for why the new administration chose Godswill Akpabio, a former Niger Delta minister and senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West, to serve as Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.
The Tinubu administration, according to Senator Shettima, is devoted to ensuring religious harmony and dispelling Nigerians’ misconceptions about the APC’s lack of an Islamization agenda.
The announcement was made by the Vice President-elect on Tuesday evening when he hosted members of the Stability Group who were working to make the Senators Godswill Akpabio and Barau Jibrin ticket a reality.
According to research, Senator Sani Musa, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, and former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Abdul Aziz Yari, are also vying for the position.
In addition to the necessity for religious balance, Senator Shettima claimed that the APC’s top decision-makers were also sold on the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State’s qualifications to lead the Senate.
Politics shouldn’t be a tool for dividing our people, he said. It should instead serve to bring us all together. Both the incoming president and vice president are Muslims. If the Christian faith is not awarded the next position, it would further support the APC-led administration’s claimed Islamization plan and is therefore in the interest of the stability and unity of this nation. It would be seen as a gratuitous insult to our Christian family members who risked all to stand by us.
“For this reason, I was thrilled with the party leadership’s selection of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the third most important citizen of this nation, who is also my unusual brother and leader. Political considerations aside, the stability of this country comes before everything else. Before discussing politics and positions, we must first establish a stable and cohesive nation. In the current situation, this is what our leader could do to bring the nation together.
“Senator Akpabio, as well as Senator Barau, his deputy, have the exposure, expertise, and experience to serve as the Senate President in the 10th Senate. Along with the requirement for religious harmony, competence and experience also played a role in our decisions.
“Abdulaziz Yari, senator, is my brother and a friend. On the same political platform, we both ran for governor from 2011 to 2019, but the country comes first over our personal desires. What I saw here today makes me quite happy. It is a reflection of people who long for the stability and bipartisanship of this nation.
Shettima continued by thanking the governors of Rivers and Ebonyi states, respectively, Nyesom Wike and David Umahi, for their contributions to and support of the party, saying, “The Governor-General of the South-South is a man of honor and integrity. As far as Wike is concerned, what you see is what you get. These are persons who have made significant contributions to the stability of our nation. The South East’s most effective Governor is Umahi. He is a man of honesty and honor. He wanted to run for Senate Leadership, but he was forced to withdraw out of respect for the party’s choice.
Prior to the June 13 date of the 10th National Assembly’s inauguration, the Vice President-elect gave Senator Shettima and his group the assurance that all would be done to ensure the buy-in of other disgruntled hopefuls.
“I’ve seen the list of people who haven’t joined us yet. You can trust that we will actively engage them and persuade them of the benefits of joining us. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my principal, is an accomplished politician. Prior to the National Assembly’s inauguration, he is aware of how to integrate them.
Ali Ndume, a senator for Borno South and the Stability Group’s director general, claimed that members of the Stability Group cross party lines and have a common objective in maintaining national unity.
“We are fully aware that once a senator enters the Red Chambers, they are no longer members of a certain political party but rather Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Members of the Stability Group will collaborate with the incoming administration to assess the policies and guarantee national stability.
We’re not here because the South South’s highest ranking senator, Godswill Akpabio, was given the position by the party. We came together to ensure polity stability and national cohesion, as well as to make sure that Nigeria advances in the correct manner, he remarked.
