Ex-A’Ibom governor, Akpabio kicks Alison-Madueke while she’s down already

By Nse Peter

You don’t flog a dying horse, so the saying goes. Or, maybe, we should put it this way: you don’t kick a man who’s down already.

But Chief Godswill Akpabio did just that! The former Akwa Ibom State governor who is now the Senate Minority Leader gave the embattled Nigeria’s former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke a terrible kick which has made some Nigerians to wonder what it is that controls Akpabio’s brain.

On Wednesday, 14 October, 2015, on the floor of the Senate during the screening of Dr Ibe Kachikwu as a ministerial nominee, Akpabio said he could not speak with a certain Minister of Petroleum resources for three years even as a governor of an oil producing state.

Of course, everyone knows Akpabio was referring to ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan’s ally, Alison-Madueke. But like one commentator on the net put it “He didn't have to say that to get his point across, kicking while she is down”. It is interesting to note that Akpabio was one of the most influential politicians in Jonathan’s administration.