A group, Citizens Network for Peace and Development in Nigeria (CNPDN), has described the backlash over Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s ‘holiday money to Senators’ statement as purported “campaign of calumny” against the Senate President.
A statement signed by the secretary of the organisation, Francis Okereke Wainwei, on Friday, alleged that the campaign was aimed at tarnishing Akpabio’s image.
CNPDN further alleged that “the said campaign is orchestrated by both persons in the 10th Senate and persons outside the Senate with the aim of portraying him as incompetent and insensitive to the plight of the masses.”
Recall that Akpabio had publicly revealed that money had been sent to all Senators to enjoy their annual recess, a disclosure that has caused public backlash given current economic challenges being faced by Nigerians.
However, the group said the people behind the “unwarranted” attacks on the the Senate President didn’t mean well for the stability and prosperity of the country.
He urged members of the public to scrutinise “their fabricated reports” against Akpabio before reacting.
“We have recently witnessed a plethora of negative and fabricated media reports against Sen.Akpabio following his harmless and lighthearted comments about the statutory N2m running cost of the office of each Senator as provided for in the 2023 budget.
“According to the clarification made by the management of the National Assembly, the allocation for running costs is not a new development but has been the standard practice of the National Assembly.
“Therefore, the calls that were made for the resignation of Sen.Akpabio as Senate President were misplaced, mischievous and totally baseless. The said calls were not driven by patriotic motives or outcomes of sincere and thorough investigations.
“We hereby condemn in the strongest of terms, the unpatriotic and mischievous activities of the people behind the campaign of calumny against the Senate President. They should desist from distracting the President of the Senate and allow him to focus on working harmoniously with President Tinubu to deliver quality and life-transforming projects and programmes to alleviate the pathetic plight of the long-suffering masses of this country.
“The era of divisive and negative politics is over and therefore, they should think of making positive contributions to advance the country and work for the stability of the polity.
“They can make constructive criticisms and proffer relevant solutions aimed at enhancing the legislative process and better the polity, if their motives are purely patriotic rather than involving themselves in activities that will destabilise the smooth running of the 10th Senate.
“What we need in Nigeria now is to support the current administration to effectively implement its progressive policies to change the pathetic plight of the ordinary citizens across the country. We are therefore, compelled by the need to promote the welfare of the ordinary citizens in the country to make this sincere appeal to all patriotic Nigerians to follow the path of national interest and ensure political stability, national cohesion and focused leadership, that will create the enabling environment for the holistic development of this country by heeding our call and shunning negative and divisive politics.
“We know that the Senate President, Sen.Godswill Akpabio has the capacity and competence to help President Tinubu to concentrate on tackling the myriads of developmental challenges facing the nation. He has the charisma and capacity to mobilize the 10th National Assembly to be result-oriented and focused on legislative excellence rather than engaging in unwholesome activities and distracting our dear President.
“The nation needs competent, experienced and selfless leaders like Sen. Akpabio in all facets of our national life to accelerate beyond the current predicament and therefore, there is absolutely no need to distract him with such campaign of calumny.
“Sen. Akpabio is adequately prepared and has the requisite wealth of experience and knowledge, owing to his robust history of transformational leadership, to successfully pilot the affairs of the 10th senate for the betterment of the country. In fact the positive impact of Sen. Akpabio’s altruistic leadership was reflected on the recently concluded ministerial screening where the senate selflessly delayed its annual vacation and also held legislative sessions on weekends to ensure the expeditious conclusion of the ministerial screening in the interest of the country.
“We are therefore, using this medium to call on all patriotic Nigerians to desist from peddling unfounded and fabricated lies against the Senate President but rather continue to support him for a better collaboration between the National Assembly and the Presidency, that will pave the way for the needed political stability and prosperity of our dear country,” it stated.
