Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio’s emergence as President of the 10th Senate on 13th June, 2023 raised high expectations.
Not just because of his track record of high service delivery in his previous public offices Not just because of his track record of high service delivery in his previous public offices, but also because Akpabio is not a stranger in the National Assembly , having been elected as the Minority Leader of the Senate in his first appearance in 2015. The Upper chamber is a familiar terrain for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senator.
The first experience was when Adamawa Senator Elisha Abbo raised an alarm over the Constitution of the Senate Standing Committees. He alleged that his fellow northern Senators had been unfairly treated. And for this, he just stopped short of calling for the head of Akpabio. Abbo was actually not speaking for himself alone. He was the Secretary of the Northern Senators Forum.
The Ningi saga was another litmus test for Akpabio. But his leadership qualities and experience again came to the fore in the way the Senate transparently and effectively handled the matter. All through the session, Akpabio was calm and decisive in his interventions. Eventually, Ningi was suspended for three months for violations of legislative rules, misconduct and unethical behaviour in his BBC interview on the 2024 Budget.
This necessitated an extra-ordinary summit of the ECOWAS, chaired by Nigeria. Tinubu needed to inform the Senate about the far reaching and sensitive decisions taken by ECOWAS on the crisis.
That golden advice by the Senate was a defining moment for Akpabio’s leadership. ECOWAS cannot deploy troops without Nigeria. So the response of the Nigerian Senate was widely acknowledged as instrumental to ECOWAS’ abandoning the military option and restricting itself to diplomatic solutions instead. Thus, the Senate decision averted a war of unpredictable implications for the sub-region and Nigeria.
The project was started in July 2022 during the tenure of the Ninth National Assembly but the contractors thrice reneged on completion dates before they eventually delivered in April 2024. Justice C. D. Diai of a Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba has sentenced an Inspector of Police, Ubi Ebri, to death for killing Mr Emmanuel Ibeh, a telephone repairer/seller.
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