It is said that those who the gods want to destroy they first make mad. The subject of this article is not indicating President Buhari’s failure to win his second term bid, nothing and nobody can stop President Buhari’s reelection but himself, if he takes Atiku Abubakar’s presidential challenge for granted.
This article is rather intended to warn Mr President about one subhuman virus that can go viral to affect every artery that transports blood to vital organs of his reelection bid.
This is therefore a warning asking President Buhari to be wary of the pretentious political antics of Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, who now enjoys being called “the former Senate Minority Leader” and who, in 2019, would likely become “a former politician from Akwa Ibom State”, insha Allah!
The Holy book says “a man reaps what he sows”. It is time for Senator Akpabio to reap his just political sowing.
1. Senator Akpabio’s Failed Presidential Assurance On Senate Leadership Change
The defection of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) was spontaneous, momentous and unexpected. It could be remembered that Senator Akpabio’s defection came after the defection of Senator Bukola Saraki with 14 other senators, who, in the reverse of Senator Akpabio’s defection, defected from the APC to the PDP earlier than Senator Akpabio.
It is believed that the seemed emotion-a-political trauma caused the APC by these earlier defections and the agitation by the APC leadership to dethrone Senator Saraki as senate president, preempted and pursued by him after Saraki’s defection, lured Senator Akpabio into the APC.
The numerous noise made by Adams Oshiomhole about the impeachment of Bukola Saraki as Senate President was at the instance of Senator Akpabio’s assurance of the possibility of impeaching the senate president. That was Adams Oshiomhole’s biggest nightmare and an unleashed dream from which he has not been able to wake up.
Unfortunately, Adams Oshiomhole, who appeared as a progressive democrat in the beginning, has shown, from when he started insulting President Buhari’s office as tolerating indiscipline, to be incompetent and hanging on borrowed time as national chairman of the ruling party for his mismanagement of political opportunities.
With the help of his stooges within the APC from Akwa Ibom State, the political vomits from the PDP, especially those working directly with Mr President, Senator Akpabio’s desire to assist the Buhari administration cushion the effects of the embarrassing defections of members of Mr President’s party who were members of the national assembly, and ensure leadership change, especially for the 8th Senate, was conveyed to the powers that be.
His 3-stage consultation to defect from PDP was accentuated, beginning with Vice President Osinbajo, who pushed him up onto Leader Tinubu afterwards, and finally was cleared to settle his defection to the APC with President Buhari. He has become the burden of the APC in Akwa Ibom State.
However, all the attempts to forcefully reconvene the senate via Senator Akpabio’s schemes, and the loudmouthed threats of Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the APC, driven by his ardent and unfortunate strong believe in the sailable schemes of Senator Akpabio, failed woefully on their faces when the 8th Senate reconvened from their long vacation holiday and nothing happen about, and to Senator Saraki’s position as senate president.
2. The Akpabio/Saraki Red Chamber Clash
More than Senator Akpabio’s desire to cushion the Buhari administration from the effects of the senate defections, as his assurance was to the leaders of the APC and Mr President, when he mused his defection to the party, Senator Akpabio’s interest was more on the leadership change in the senate.
Driven by his blueprint, the kind that brought to being the “PDP Governors Forum” (PDPGF) and the failed bid to change the “chairman” of the forum, Senator Akpabio was expecting to effect the same agenda in the red chambers using the APC majority advantage to trade his minority status for the senate presidency. Senator Akpabio’s eyes were majored on the senate presidency and that was his principal reason for defecting from the PDP.
In positioning himself for ascension as Senate President on resumption of the 8th Senate from the 2018 legislative long vacation holiday, he first paid for some youths from Kaduna State to be mobilized for a public protest to hammer the nail on Saraki’s removal as Senate President, and his replacement with Godswill Akpabio.
That protests was a suspicious zonal arbitrariness, which was first of its kind in our national politics – noting that Kaduna State is central to the interest of the north central zone of our geopolitical delimitation, in which the seat of the senate presidency resides.
This was a clear indication that Senator Akpabio was more interested in the Senate leadership than in cushioning Mr President troubles in the Senate. Senator Akpabio has never been interested in President Buhari, he is rather interested in positioning himself advantageously with the senate presidency for personal political relevance in 2023.
Today, he remains the only voice in the senate calling for the “resignation” of the senate president, making himself an example Saraki should emulate. Senator Akpabio is ignorant of the truth that he could not remain the leader of the PDP senate caucus, as the office of the senate minority leader (SML) is reserved by law for a PDP senator qualified to occupy it. This is not so with Senator Saraki’s, which operates beyond partisan considerations.
3. Exposing Senator Akpabio’s Ignorance Of History And His Shallow Understanding Of National Politics.
It is ill knowledge for Senator Akpabio to think that because he resigned as senate minority leader when he defected from the PDP, Senator Saraki should as well and as much resign his office as senate president, begs a silly question. His position as senate minority leader is not legally as comprehensive as Saraki’s position as senate president. It is a matter of precedence in law.
At the turn of 2005, former President Obasanjo, who had fallen out with his vice president, attempted to squeeze out the impeachment of Vice President Atiku Abubakar for defecting from the PDP to the Action Congress (AC), where as sitting vice president in a PDP government, he also doubled as the presidential candidate of AC.
It is a precedence in law that the supreme court ruling in favour of Atiku Abubakar, approving his carriage of the dual office of Vice President of a PDP government and the presidential candidate of the major opposition party, the AC. It is on this fact that it is revealed how the self seeking interest and advantage over others that Senator Akpabio seeks, that has conjoined with the disinterest of the APC senators to feed his hunger for power, by pursuing Saraki’s impeachment.
So unless the APC leadership and senators can muzzle enough strength and number to impeach Senator Saraki, it is advisable to tamper Senator Akpabio’s continued heating up of our 8th senate. It is therefore in this light that this call to President Buhari is made. This is to show how Senator Akpabio has nothing else to offer those who brought him into the party from abroad.
It is necessary, nevertheless, to ask that since politics is local and the leaders of the APC were carried away by the politically deceitful antics of Senator Akpabio and promoted his membership from abroad, they should spare our local politics by limiting his political job abroad, in Abuja. Under no reason should the presidency deploy security agents under Senator Akpabio in the name of federal might to expand his onslaught on the peace and security of Akwa Ibom people.
President Buhari would lose more than his presidency, in his reputation and integrity, if he unleashes the imminent terror preempted and projected in value to political genocide, should he empower Senator Akpabio with federal might to kill the people of Akwa Ibom in the name of the second term ambition of a president.
Mr President will be directly responsible for every live lost due to the unconstitutional powers he will entrust into the hands of a man not recognised by law for such transfer of power. A word is enough for the wise.
Ini Akpan Morgan convened the APC Patriots Grouping in Akwa Ibom State and he writes in from Uyo via “time.subsidaries@gmail.com“
