Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, has urged Nigerians and the incoming 10th National Assembly not to judge him based on his brief time serving as the minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Akpabio stated that he would rather be evaluated on his 36 years of legal experience, his six years as a commissioner, and his eight years as governor.
In an interview he gave to the media on Saturday night in Abuja, he made these claims.
Akpabio, the senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West, is one of the candidates for the position of Senate President for the 10th National Assembly, which will take office on June 6.
On the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket, he was initially elected to the Nigerian Senate in 2015, where he served as Minority Leader before switching to the party in power, the All Progressives Congress.
In order to run in the APC presidential primaries for the general elections in 2023, Akpabio resigned from his position as minister of Niger Delta affairs. He later stepped aside in favor of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Abdulaziz Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State, and Orji Uzor Kalu, the Senate Chief Whip, have promised not to withdraw from the contest for the Senate Presidency despite the fact that he is the favored choice of the President-elect and APC.
“I do know that I have not changed in any way. I am somebody God has given the opportunity to be an uncommon transformer wherever I go. I will not like to be judged by ministerial appointment for Niger Delta, which everybody knows is a problematic place. But I would like to be judged by my record as a lawyer of 36 years, commissioner of six years and a governor of eight years,” Akpabio said.
