Information reaching us from the National Assembly is not looking good at all. Our extremely reliable source in Abuja says there is a silent war brewing in the Senate. It has yet to come to the fore, but, it will come at some point. It is a battle raging on between the camp of the Senate President and some highly ranked members of the National Assembly. Concerted efforts are being made by some concerned individuals to quell the brewing war but, the harder they try, the more likely it will degenerate into a full blown conflict. And when it finally does, those who are in the know insist it may consume the current Senate President, Godswil Akpabio.
According to political observers, the situation, if not nipped in the bud, can very well throw spanner in the works at the Senate and President Tinubu and Godswil Akpabio could be the worse for it. Within the walls of the National Assembly and outside of it, one of the hottest gist is the one about the Senate President and some senior members of the Senate. They are angry with their leader. They are not pleased with him for many reasons. And one of them is that they do not like the way and manner Godswil Akpabio has been conducting himself since he assumed office as Senate President. They are not pleased with the way he’s been carrying himself amongst his colleagues and exuding shades of arrogance that have not gone down well with members of the Senate, especially the high ranking senior members, many of whom did not approve of Akpabio becoming Senate President in the first place.
“You know he was imposed on us by Mr. President, many of us did not support his emergence as Senate President,” revealed a member of the Senate. “We have men who are more suitable for the position than Akpabio. We have senior members who are eminently qualified to lead us as the Senate President but we have to obey the wishes of Mr. President. He is our leader and we cannot go against his directive.”
Going by City People investigation, the animosity that brewed between the Akpabio camp and the Yari camp in particular is yet to disappear. Even though on the surface it appears both camps have sheathed their swords and embraced peace and oneness in the house, but beneath the façade lies a growing rivalry that may degenerate into something bigger in no distant time.
“Some members of the senate are still not happy with President Tinubu’s imposition of Akpabio on them as senate leader,” said a top politician who chose to remain unidentified. “They are looking for ways and excuses to criticise Akpabio. They are hoping he makes grave mistakes so they can roundly condemn him and begin the process to pressure the president to have him removed by impeachment and a replacement of their choice installed as the new Senate President. And if you look at it, Akpabio has started making those grave mistakes.”
And what are the mistakes, we asked? “Well, for starters, some of the members claim Akpabio has become arrogant and now carries himself like one who believes he is superior to his colleagues. He has been accused of giving members he perceives as not belonging to his camp attitude. He barely greets them and rarely responds warmly when they greet him. He is friendlier and closer to members of his camp than he is to members of the other group. And they despise him for this. This is the very reason they say he lacks the leadership capability to hold a massive house like the Senate together. He has completely forgotten that there are so many members who are by far his seniors in ranking. You cannot afford to be treat them with disrespect. The truth is that, it cannot help him in any way or form if he is cultivating enmity right now as against friendship with his colleagues across board. Some of these members are not men you can trample on and think you will get away with it. They will fight back. They are powerful people and they are unforgiving. Akpabio, they say, is already knocking on the impeachment door!”
“That seat he occupies has been occupied by some of the brightest brains in the land before. I’m talking about distinguished men who had the charisma and the carriage to be Senate President. When they speak, people listen to them because they speak intelligently. Akpabio does not have much of these qualities. And he has not helped his case in any way with the far from impressive manner he has been conducting the affairs of the senate,” our source explained.
He cited the case of his handling of the ministerial screening. Majority of the members were not pleased with the shoddy manner he handled proceedings at the screening. He was meant to come in and raise the bar and not bring it down. “Look at the way he handled the El-Rufai screening,” our source continued. “The man was asked questions and instead of letting the man answer the questions, he stopped him and said there was no need for him to do so. That was wrong. He should’ve let the man defend himself. And all of these lent credence to the speculation that there was a calculated effort by some powerful people within the government to stop Mallam Nasir El-Rufai from becoming a minister for the second time. This did not go down well with some of them.”
There was also the session where efforts were made to bring back the controversial disbursement of N500 billion loan to the six geo political zones across the country. This occured during the week’s Wednesday plenary. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, stood down a motion on the matter. This triggered a rowdy session. Many of the members were not the least pleased about this. If anything, the rowdy session only infuriated those against Akpabio the more.
But the one that has drawn the rage of the members the most is his recent recklessness before the public. Akpabio had on penultimate Monday before the Senate adjourned for its annual recess, told his colleagues that money had been sent to them to “enjoy” their holiday.
The Senate President said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.
When he realised his very grave error, following resounding murmurs from his colleagues, Akpabio quickly comnposed himself and said, “I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.”
Akpabio’s comment was greeted by criticisms from Nigerians berating the senators for feeding fat on the nation’s treasury.
The controversies forced some lawmakers to admit that it was only N2m that was paid to them as leave allowance and not some outrageous amount. In an interview with a media organisation a couple of days after, it was a furious Senator Ndume that blamed Akpabio’s public disclosure for the unwarranted attacks on the lawmakers.
He said, “It’s common knowledge that if any employee is going on leave, he/she is entitled to a leave grant. That was the money we received, and it is nothing unusual or special.
“All senators received N2 million. And I am making this comment with a heavy heart because he (Akpabio) is the cause of this controversy.”
The Borno South lawmaker added, “He created an impression as if we were given some special or huge amounts of money. What’s the big deal if I receive N2 million allowance in my capacity as a senator?
“He made a very wrong statement, and I warned him immediately that his comments were unbecoming of an elder.
“In fact, we are even planning to take a drastic action against him if he continues making unguarded statements and acting as if we are kids.”
This, clearly, is not the end of the Godswill Akpabio matter. Information reaching City People is that some senior members of the Senate, along with some top members of the Tinubu government, have already began making efforts to draw the president’s attention to the situation going on at the National Assembly. They have also reminded President Tinubu of the consequences that could follow if Akpabio is left to continue his recklessness as the Senate President. It’s not looking good, they told him. It is starting to look like Akpabio was a wrong choice after all and Mr. President is probably wondering if he has to start looking elsewhere for a more suitable replacement to be the next Senate President.