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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The senator representing Borno South District, Ali Ndume, has said the nomination of Godswill Akpabio by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) does not imply that he is the “anointed” candidate of the party for Senate President in the 10th National Assembly.
Ndume said this while speaking on Arise TV programme, ‘The Morning Show,’ on Tuesday.
The lawmaker was reacting to the party’s declaration of Akpabio as the leader of the 10th National Assembly.
While Akpabio was named as the Senate President, the party also nominated Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Speaking, Ndume said that Akpabio is only a preferred choice of the party which does not make him the automatic leader of the Senate, adding that the senators would still have to vote to determine who will lead the red chamber.
“I don’t think anointed is the right word to use. The APC has Akpabio as its preferred candidate, that would be a better word.
“Not anointed but preferred candidate. Because if it is anointed then it is fait accompli, which is not the case. We have to go into the chamber and vote, and it can go anywhere.
“Akpabio is going to be first among the equals as president of the senate. It is going to take the remaining 108 of us to restore integrity to the Senate,” he said.