A former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has said he expects the number of lawmakers supporting his ambition to be the President of the 10th Senate to rise to 86 by June.
Akpabio, who currently has the backing of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the seat, said this when he led some lawmakers on a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajdie Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday.
Speaking during the meeting, Akpabio said, “Today, we are about 69 in number and it is still growing. We believe that by the time we get to June, we should expect this group to rise to about 85 to 86. All I know is that we are going to win.
“I want to assure, sir that the people you see seated here are those shunning dollars and shunning pounds and shunning naira. The Senate is composed of men and women of integrity. We will not allow Nigeria to be bought. If leadership in the country goes to the highest bidder, I don’t think those like the late President Yar’Adua would have ruled Nigeria. Even the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, was not even available, I think he was somewhere else, I think Yola, when he became President.
“So, it’s not a function of money. We’ve seen money politics play out, even though we’ve not seen it play out in the 10th Senate yet. As a prelude to the inauguration, we’ve seen what is going on. We condemn it and we believe that integrity should come to play.”
In his remarks, Sanwo-Olu welcomed the lawmakers to Lagos and urged them to ensure that the 10th Senate collaborates with the incoming administration.
“I believe that you are best in class because the last election showed that you have to be good to your people for you to emerge as successful. So, I can tell you that whatever part of the country you have emerged from, you are best in class and your people must have seen something outstanding in all of you. And that brings me to the fact that you cannot bring down that trust and that expectation from your people.”
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