Group Tasks Akpabio On Public Comments, Conduct

The Coalition for Parliamentary Democracy (CPD) has expressed displeasure over the public conduct of the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

CPD, in a statement, asked the senate president to seek advice from past holders of the office, adding that his recent mannerisms while presiding in the chamber show a “lack of expected decorum, carriage and knowledge on parliamentary practices and procedures.”

CPD’s national coordinator, Dr. Menike Johnson, frowned at what he described as Akpabio’s pettiness in dragging his personal animosity to the floor of the senate using the privilege of the chair, the symbol of the parliament authority.

Claiming that Akpabio’s actions and utterances as ridiculing the institution, the group said previous senate presidents like Ahmad Lawan, Bukola Saraki, David Mark conducted the affairs of the institution in reverence and respect which the office demands.

“If he (Akpabio) sought the advice of his predecessors in that office, he would have been counseled that the Chair of the Senate President in the chamber is not designed for personal scuffles.

“The expectations of Nigerians is that Akpabio as the Senate President will provide for legislative instruments that will help President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to solve economic challenges confronting the nation”, the statement stated

Citing instances, the group recalled when Akpabio alleged that he made Mr Udom Emmanuel Governor of Akwa Ibom State and he did nothing for him for eight years.

It also cited when the Senate President was quoted advising the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, to “ignore” the Senator representing the FCT, Senator Ireti Kingibe.

The group further noted Akpabio’s false claim that governors received N30 billion  palliatives from the federal government with nothing to show for it, a statement he would later recant.