Meet Godswill Obot Akpabio, a distinguished 10th Senate President

A former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has emerged as the Senate President of the 10th Assembly.

Akpabio was the preferred candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Akpabio was sworn in as the Senate President after garnering 63 votes, leaving his rival, Yari Abdulaziz, to 46 votes.

Background

Nigeria’s new Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is one of the few lucky Nigerians born with a silver spoon, noting that he has family members who have been in governance and at the helm of affairs for a long time.

Akpabio is perceived to be from a strong political dynasty; his grandfather, Okuku Udo Akpabio, was the Warrant Chief in Ikot Ekpene province in the old Nigeria, while his uncle, Dr Ibanga Akpabio, was the Minister of Education/Internal Affairs in the then Eastern Nigeria. His cousin, Justice Nsima Akpabio, was also a senator in the Second Nigerian Republic.

Political journey from the classroom

If you called Akpabio an ajebutter (elite), you would not be far from the truth. Akpabio has, from a young age, started his leadership journey as he has occupied one significant office or another.

Akpabio began his educational journey at the Methodist Primary School, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State; the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he was a senior prefect; and completed his secondary school education.

His leadership journey continued even after secondary school, as he was elected Speaker of a Parliamentary Year during his sojourn as a student at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, where he obtained his law degree.

Professional background: Teacher to Managing Director

Having obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Law, Akpabio had a short stint as a teacher before he moved on to work as an associate with Paul Usoro and Co., a law firm in Nigeria.

From there, he served in the telecommunications industry with EMIS Telecoms Limited, a wireless telecommunications company in Lagos, Nigeria, and in 2002, he rose to the position of Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Akpabio also served at the national level as the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Telecommunication Companies in Nigeria.

An ambitious politician

While serving as the MD of EMIS Telecoms, Akpabio, in 2002, he was appointed as the Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources by the then Governor Obong Victor Attah in Akwa Ibom State. Between 2002 and 2006, he served as a commissioner in three key ministries: Petroleum and Natural Resources, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as well as Lands and Housing.

Following his stint as commissioner, Akpabio threw his hat into the ring for the Akwa Ibom governorship election, where he battled with 57 others to clinch the ticket of his then party, the Peoples Democratic Party.

Launched with the slogan, “Thy will be done,” Akpabio won the governorship election in 2006 and got re-elected as the number one citizen of Akwa Ibom for the second time in 2011.

In 2013, Akpabio was elected chairman of the newly formed PDP Governors Forum.

Akpabio’s voyage into the Parliament

In 2015, he contested and won the Senate seat of the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District to represent the district in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Running under the platform of the PDP, he polled 422,009 of the 439,449 votes to defeat Chief Inibehe Okorie of the APC, who recorded 15,152 votes to be declared elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Akpabio, in 2015, as a first timer against Senate rule, was made a principal officer as the Senate Minority Leader.

In August 2018, he resigned as the Senate Minority Leader after announcing his defection to the All Progressives Congress.

From legislature back to the Executive

In July 2019, he was nominated by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, and screened by the Nigerian Senate for a ministerial appointment. On August 21, 2019, he was sworn in as Minister for Niger Delta Affairs.

In June 2022, Akpabio’s ambition went even higher when he resigned his appointment as the minister for Niger Delta Affairs to contest in the presidential primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress but stepped down on the night of the primaries for the president, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Cross-carpeting back to the legislature

Having stepped down for the President, Akpabio, against all odds, clinched his senatorial ticket through a court order from a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr Udom Ekpoudom.

Having secured the ticket, Akpabio began the tussle for the Senate Presidency and eventually got anointed as the party’s choice.

Akpabio’s personae

One of the things that endear people to Akpabio is his constant smile. You’d hardly catch him frowning, no matter what was going wrong.

The former governor is also known for his oratory prowess, intelligence and poise.

He is always displaying confidence and great self-esteem.

He is married to Ekaette Akpabio, the founder of the Family Life Enhancement Initiative, a non-governmental organisation providing a platform for redirecting the focus of development efforts on the family as a strategy for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

They both have four daughters

More about Senate President Akpabio

His tenure as the state chief executive brought about the transformation of the state in an unprecedented fashion, which earned him the appellation; The Uncommon Transformer, who transformed Akwa Ibom State in an uncommon way.

In recognition of his landmark performance as the state governor, people in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, elected him as their representative in the Senate, where he was unanimously elected the Senate Minority Leader of his former party. For his sake, the rules of the Senate was suspended to pave the way for him, a first timer, to be elected the Minority Leader. Shortly after his election, the Senate rule was restored.

His tenure as governor saw to the introduction of free, compulsory and qualitative education for all school age children resident in Akwa Ibom State, without political, religious or cultural considerations; free medical care for pregnant women, children and the aged; as well as massive infrastructure investments in the state.

Akpabio as a public officer is highly detribalised. He pays little or no attention to where anyone who crosses his path comes from. It is on records that as a governor, his CSO, Orderly and ADC were all non indigenes of the state.

Before he left office in 2015, Akwa Ibom was already a positive reference point in the comity of states. He built the best Stadium in West Africa; which was later christened the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium by the state House of Assembly in recognition of his uncommon achievements in the state.

He made sure the Victor Attach International Airport, which he met at site clearing level, became functional, internationally required landing and lighting system installed in one of the longest runways in the industry in Nigeria. He witnessed the first take-off and landing of international flights before he left office in 2015. Akwa Ibom under Akpabio, was a massive construction site.

He turned numerous boys to men, girls to women through empowerment and human capital development having abolished the house boy/girl syndrome through free and compulsory education for the youths.

Additional information extracted from The Punch and Daily Trust