• Associates consider ex-Niger Delta minister’s constant visits irritating, mark of desperation
BY GODWIN OBI
As the race for Presidency of the 10th Senate hots up, discomfort is growing in the camp of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over efforts by elements in the camp of former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and aspirant to the number three position, Chief Godswill Akpabio, to paint a picture of tacit endorsement.
This is coming at a time when a governor from Northeast and some senators-elect have dismissed as incorrect insinuations that the meeting between Tinubu and APC stakeholders resolved to support Akpabio, even as the All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied reports claiming that it had zoned the Senate presidency to South-south.
Frontline Reporters gathered that Tinubu did not either tacitly or openly endorsed anybody, just as sources close to the President-elect revealed that he and his associates were beginning to feel irritated by Akpabio’s constant visits, which they consider irritating and smacks of desperation.
It was gathered that since the president-elect returned from abroad, after his 34-day vacation, Akpabio visits his home almost every day, an action that is upsetting Tinubu’s associates.
A Tinubu loyalist, who preferred not to be named, said the president-elect feels stalked by Akpabio’s constant visits.
He said the president-elect and his close associates are uncomfortable with such visits as they don’t want Nigerians to have a false impression that the former minister is Tinubu’s preferred candidate, when he has not made any commitment.
The source said the president-elect and those around him are increasingly becoming embarrassed by Akpabio’s desperation to get Tinubu’s endorsement to become Senate president.
He said: “The president-elect’s team is not happy with Godswill Akpabio and the way he is going about his ambition to become the Senate President. He never allows the president-elect to rest. He wants to come around every minute and we are sincerely tired of his antics.
“Akpabio is too desperate and unstable. Most of us are not comfortable with him. We know that his former party accused him of betrayal when he was Minority Leader at the Senate, as he dumped the party for APC. If he did that, he could also trade in APC in future.
“We do not want Asiwaju to make a mistake. We are, therefore, watching Akpabio closely. His conduct in the race for Senate presidency is becoming too irritating to the president-elect and those around him. We want Tinubu to succeed, and the foundation will be to carry every region along and form a unity government.”
Another close associate of Tinubu, who is in the Senate, said the President-elect’s camp would not want to have an albatross.
According to him, the camp is worried about the impression that Tinubu has adopted Akpabio as preferred candidate.
He said that what Akpabio said of lawmakers, during the House of Representatives investigation of the NDDC, makes some of them uncomfortable.
“We returning senators are angry about what Akpabio said of lawmakers then. We are talking to the new ones. We wouldn’t want the president-elect to be misunderstood as supporting someone who does not have support of his former colleagues. We want a generally accepted senator as leader. We have not seen that in Akpabio,” he said.
Toeing similar position, the APC governor from Northeast who pleaded for anonymity, contended that most claims in the media regarding Akpabio were not a reflection of the thinking within the camp of the President-elect and key APC stakeholders.
He said: “I have read and listened to some claims in the media, especially social media. I can tell you that over 90 per cent of those claims are untrue and mere figment of some people’s imagination.
“In fact, I can tell you that the President-elect is not happy about some of the claims. He is working for the people and progress of our country. He wants to promote that which will help our country surmount some challenges facing it as quickly as possible.”
Some lawmakers-elect also dismissed with a wave of the hand the claim that Tinubu is mobilising support among APC lawmakers for Akpabio.
One of the senators-elect said: “I have been attending the meetings, and nobody has told me that the anointed candidate for Senate president is Akpabio.
“The contestants are working hard to get the backing of the party and my colleagues. Akpabio and his supporters know that Orji Uzor Kalu is firmly ahead as he has many people, especially from the North, backing him. I tell you that Kalu is leading in the race as at today.”
Meanwhile, the APC has denied succumbing to pressure to micro-zone the Senate Presidency to South-south.
Clarifying this, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, a lawyer, in a statement, denied the reports, while insisting that the ruling party was yet to zone the leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly.
Morka noted that such reports being circulated on social media did not emanate from the party.
He said: “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to versions of zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions in circulation in sections of social media. The information did not emanate from the party and should be disregarded.
“To be clear, the party has yet to zone positions of leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Any decisions made in that regard will be duly communicated via the party’s official information channels.”
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