Following indications that no fewer than 10 of the former governors in the upper house and a coalition of civic organizations are now clamoring for his impeachment, reports of plots to remove Senate President Godswill Akpabio took on a new twist on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, pro-Akpabio senators reportedly went on a troubleshooting mission to their fellow senators while others reportedly considered involving Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje-led All Progressives Congress APC National Working Committee NWC.
“The party is just reading a lot of things but we have heard that some of the senators are thinking of meeting with our NWC to help resolve the issue”, said an APC official who said the party had not been officially informed about Akpabio’s travails.
The Senate President was urged to resign by the Coalition for Parliamentary Democracy CPD after it was claimed that he had lost the support of his fellow senators in the Senate. The anti-Akpabio senators called the earlier allegations of a planned impeachment “phantom”
In response to allegations from Senator Akpabio’s office that “one South-South Governor” was driving the threat of impeachment to remove him from office, CPD advised Senator Akpabio to quit accusing others and instead explain why his colleagues want him out of office.
In a statement from its National Coordinator, Dr. Menike Johnson, CPD on Tuesday accused Senator Akpabio of trying to inflame the political climate by blaming others when his colleagues had amply stated that his “failure to fit into the duties of a Presiding Officer and providing a transparent and credible leadership as reason for their decision to move against him” was the cause of their action.
Nigerians cannot afford to accept a Senate that is ruled by unstable leadership that does not have the support of the MPs, according to CPD, who argued that the country needs a highly stable and united National Assembly at this crucial moment.
The coalition calls it “disappointing” that the troubled Senate President “is resorting to a face-saving measure of accusing a state governor; a very dangerous and unstatesmanlike venture that is capable of triggering crisis in the polity” instead of responding to his colleagues.
“As Parliamentary watchers, we believe that Senator Akpabio should address the concerns raised by his colleagues, including claims of preferential treatment in the management of the Senate and allegations of a lack of transparency, as well as violations of basic conventions and procedures for presiding over the Senate.
“The attempt to overheat the polity by blaming external individuals is therefore a self-indicting measure that does not provide the much-expected answers to very critical issue of leadership failure raised by senators against the embattled Senate President.
“Having admitted that he has lost favour with his colleagues; and having no answers to the very serious issues raised by the Senators which borders on leadership failure, we counsel Senator Akpabio to save the nation further trouble by stepping down as Senate President.
“Our nation is in a very critical moment and Nigerians cannot afford a Senate that is plagued by an unstable leadership which does not command the loyalty of the lawmakers”, CPD stated.
Sen. Elisha Ishaku Abbo sent out a message to senators from the north last Saturday, alleging that Akpabio’s supporters funded the news story about his alleged impending impeachment in an effort to turn senators from the region against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Abbo had stated, “I woke up today to see over 10 major Nigerian publications, all broadcasting details of a plot by Northern Nigerian senators to impeach Senator Akpabio. The Whistler Newspaper went on to identify the senators behind the action as Senators Yari, Tambuwal, and Onawo among others.
As a senator from the North and a representative of the Northern Senators Forum, I’ll say it out loud: “The ‘camp’ of Senator Akpabio deliberately planted and syndicated this news to pit President Bola Tinubu against the North.”
