10th Assembly leadership: How deal for Akpabio's endorsement was reached

More facts have emerged on how President Bola Tinubu endorsed former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, for the senate presidency, the SUNDAY PUNCH reports.

The newspaper quoted sources close to President Tinubu as revealing that the deal to make Akpabio president of the senate was sealed a day before the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The primary, which was held at the Eagles Square in Abuja between June 6 and 8, 2022, had Tinubu, Akpabio and others as aspirants.

“Asiwaju (Tinubu) met with Akpabio a day before the primary and approached him to step down for him. Tinubu said if the former governor would agree, it would send a positive signal to the audience and other aspirants since he (Akpabio) would be the first aspirant to be invited to the podium to speak,” one of the sources told PUNCH.

According to the source, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press on the matter, Akpabio agreed but said he needed to know what would be his ‘gain’ since he had resigned as a minister.

“Asiwaju (Tinubu) assured him that he would be supported to emerge as the President of the Senate. As they were speaking, an influential woman (name withheld) also came in. That was how the deal was sealed,” another source stated.

It was also gathered that the outgoing President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, met with Akpabio on the day of the primary to seek his support.

It was gathered that Lawan reportedly told the former minister that he had been anointed as the candidate of both the party and the ‘northern caucus’.

But Akpabio, according to one of the sources, said he had given his words to Tinubu and would not be able to support Lawan’s aspiration.

The paper gathered from other impeccable sources close to the matter that Lawan had not forgiven Akpabio for allegedly snubbing him and, therefore, accused him of ‘bringing the senate into disrepute while serving as the minister in charge of the Niger Delta Ministry’.

The remaining part of the story can be read on PUNCH.