Akpabio as Senate President is not yet a done deal —Sen Ndume

The Senator representing Borno South District, Ali Ndume, on Tuesday, clarified that the nomination of Senator Godswill Akpabio by the All Progressives Congress {APC} National Working Committee {NWC} does not imply that he is the “anointed” candidate of the party for Senate President of the 10th National Assembly.

Ndume, who said this while speaking on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Tuesday, was reacting to the APC NWC’s declaration of Akpabio as the leader of the 10th Assembly.

Ripples Nigeria reports that the APC NWC, after a meeting on Monday, said Akpabio had been nominated for Senate President, and Abbas Tajudeen as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Ndume, who said Akpabio was only a preferred choice of the party which does not make him the automatic leader of the Senate, explained that the senators would still have to vote to determine the leader of the red chamber.

He said: “I don’t think anointed is the right word to use. The APC has Akpabio as its preferred candidate, that would be a better word,” he said.

“Not anointed but preferred candidate. Because if it is anointed then it is fait accompli, which is not the case. We have to go into the chamber and vote, and it can go anywhere.

“Akpabio is going to be first among the equals as president of the senate. It is going to take the remaining 108 of us to restore integrity to the Senate.”