All senators are equal, says Godswill Akpabio

By Olusola Fabiyi

Senator Godswill Akpabio has said all senators in the National Assembly are equal.

The former Governor of Akwa-Ibom State said this when asked about his desire to vie for the position of Minority Leader in the Senate.

The party had said certain criteria must be met in choosing members of the party who would lead its members in the Senate.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who reeled out the criteria on behalf of members of the National Working Committee of the party, listed ranking, region and gender among such criteria.

Though the party zoned the position of Senate Minority Leader to the South-South, where Akpabio hails from, he is however a first timer in the Senate.

This criteria knocks him out of the race.

“We have directed them to note that in accordance with the practice and convention of our party. The nomination process should take into consideration ranking, gender and religious sensitivities,” Metuh had said,

But after his meeting with members of the NWC in Abuja on Wednesday evening, the former governor said it was not the question of whether he had interest in the race, but his capacity to do the job.

Akpabio said, “I came (to see the NWC members) in my usual consultation with the party on national issues.

 “(Interest in minority leader position) It is not a question of interest, it is a question of capacity. So if I have the capacity, my colleagues will decide.

“In the Senate, everybody is equal but some have been there for a long time like the ranking senators and all that. So, when you have the opportunity to be in the red chamber, you have equal rights to aspire to any position but you first have to be sure that your colleagues will be interested in you.

“If my name has been mentioned, probably by my colleagues, and I consult, and at the end of my consultations with stakeholders of our party across the nation, I will be able to make appropriate statement.”

He said the election of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was supported by members of the ruling party in the Senate, the All Progressives Congress.

Culled from The Punch