Akpabio tells Buhari he wants to contest in the race for Senate presidency

Godswill Akpabio said he had informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to become the President of the 10th Senate.

Akpabio, who was once Nigeria’s Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and now senator-elect for the Ikot-Ekpene Senatorial District, disclosed this after meeting with the President at his official residence inside the President Villa, Abuja, on Sunday evening.

He said he also assured the President that he would work closely with the Bola Tinubu’s administration to empower Nigerians, particularly the youth.

The Senator-elect stated that he used the visit to thank the President for giving him the chance to serve as Minister in his administration in addition to informing him of his intention to lead the next Senate.

He also added that he presented to the President his Certificate of Returns.

Akpabio said that so many reforms would be pushed through in concert with the Executive arm.

Akpabio, known as an uncommon transformer, when asked what his plan for Nigerians would be if he was elected Senate President, said “It’s well known that Akpabio is a results-driven individual. You will remember that when I was a governor, I made significant contributions to infrastructure, education, social issues, and human empowerment.

“I intend to bring a lot of reforms into the Senate, in the ways and manners we do business, to assist the next administration to succeed. We will be very thorough in doing everything; we’ll bring about loyalty to the Constitution, we’ll bring about loyalty to Nigerians.

“We will tackle issues through legislations to empower Nigerians and particularly the youth. The restiveness that we are seeing across the nation, we’ll do our best to make good laws and to assist the administration to bring about policies that will empower the youths of the country.

“I made that promise even on the convention day that being a man who used to turn boys into men and who still does, that I will like to work with the in-coming president, who has also shown that example in Lagos State as a governor and thereafter as a leader of the APC in Nigeria. He has continued to turn boys into men and as the President of the Country, after his swearing-in, I expect that he continue to do so.

“So the youths are in for a very good time, in terms of empowerment, there will be no time for slacking and we’ll restrict a lot of them from being lured into criminality, into brigandage and all that. So we’ll get them working and I believe that with the help of the Almighty that both the National Assembly and the Executive will do a lot for the youths of this country,” he said.

Asked how his consultations with other lawmakers and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were going, he said “yes, we have been doing that, we’ve done a lot of consultations and they’ve been very positive and well received. It’s almost like a woman who is already eight months pregnant, just a month to deliver.”