The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday pleaded with the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Progressives Congress (APC) to consider members of the National Assembly who have genuine concerns when the list of candidates from the recently conducted primaries is released.
Speaking at the inauguration of APC National Campaign Council for the forthcoming Ekiti state governorship election, Akpabio said some of his colleagues were having hypertension over the outcome of the primary election.
LEADERSHIP reports that no fewer than 54 serving members of the National Assembly lost their tickets seeking re-election during the APC primaries.
Also APC NWC has yet ratified the primaries conducted across the country except the presidential nomination as it disowned what it described as purported “Concluded List of APC Senatorial Candidates So Far” currently circulating on social media and some online platforms.
Akpabio who is the chairman of the National Assembly noted that while governors have the right to choose state lawmakers who can work with them, the president too reserved the right to make input on the federal legislators that work with him.
“The party is supreme. I’m only pleading with the party that when they bring out their final list, then they need to show that they are carrying all of us along. The national chairman when the Working
The committee meets, and brings out their final list. Outside the Ekiti committee, or the rest of the people contesting the election, some of my people are having hypertension.
“Ensure that they are carrying all the National Assembly members along. And for the governors, yes, they say the assembly is going to be working with you. You have the absolute right to choose anybody you want.
“Then for the president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR he also has the right to give him imputs. But when anybody has lost the election on the ground, please don’t expect me, as chairman of the National Assembly, to come and plead with you to put the person. It simply means the person has lost,” he said.
Akpabio who is the co-chairman of the Campaign said his request is however based on merit.
“I want to congratulate those who won the primaries and then plead with my colleagues, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, that the Senate president, as chairman of the National Assembly, is saying that you should have done your homework well before going for the primaries.
“That’s what I’m saying. So, when the party meets, we shall endorse, and may God Almighty grant us victory in the elections,” he added.
Inaugurating the campaign council, APC national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda said the party was assured of victory in the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti state.
Yilwatda said the performance of Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji and assemblage of campaign council were clear indications of APC’s success at the polls.
“Your Excellency, you have done very well in terms of infrastructure. You have built roads; you are providing social protection for your people; you are providing scholarships; you are providing health support systems for your people. You are connecting roads; you are connecting hearts across the state.
“You seem to be the only candidate for this election. I can say it informally, congratulations in advance. No political party can match this array of people. We have governors from all sections of the country. The Senate President from the South-South.
“The entire country is seated here. I challenge any candidate to present even one governor behind him while campaigning. Who presents more than ten times the number you present?
“…That is why we are proud that this campaign council was built. You will mobilise funding for us. Funding will not be a problem. The people sitting in front here can raise any money we need for the election,” he added
For his part, chairman of the council and governor of Kaduna state, said he and his team will ensure Governor Oyebanji’s re-election votes will increase by 100%.
“In the 2022 governorship election, he scored 187,557 votes, defeating his closest rival by a margin of over 104,000 votes. This impressive victory is not merely a number; it is a clear mandate from the people of Ekiti, who have embraced the transformative vision of the APC.
“Our goal for the upcoming election is ambitious yet achievable. We are targeting an increase of over 100 per cent in the number of votes for Governor Oyebanji, and a margin of no less than 500,000 votes over his closest rival. This is not just a numerical target,” he added.
