Godswill Akpabio, lawmaker representing Akwa Ibom North has been described as a political pensioner by his colleague, Dino Melaye.
Messrs Akpabio and Melaye are Senators at the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly.
Mr
Melaye representing Kogi West made the description on Tuesday when he
featured alongside Festus Keyamo, the presidential spokesman of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign team, on a programme on Channels
Television: The Verdict.
The duo had a heated argument attacking and defending Mr Buhari’s choice of punishment on ballot box snatchers.
The
president had declared extra-judicial killings for those who might want
to thwart the electoral will of Nigerians in the rescheduled general
election expected to commence on Saturday.
The Nigerian leader
said he has ordered security operatives to ruthlessly deal with ballot
snatchers at the scene of the crime without recourse to court trial as
stipulated in the constitution.
The Army and the Police have all nodded and are willing to carry out the directive.
After the shouting match, the moderator asked for their final summarization of what is expected on Saturday.
For
Melaye, he said Nigerians are tired of the incumbent leader and has
chosen Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) as their next leader. He said the opposition party will
reclaim states it had lost in the 2015 general elections.
For the
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who claimed that the president’s
choice of punishment on ballot snatchers is constitutional, the likes of
Mr Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, Senate President, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso
among others who left the All Progressive Congress (APC) might have made
minor contributions but that did not win the election for his
principal.
The lawyer said being a plus and minus situation, the
party has also received into its fold politicians like Akpabio,
Uduaghan, Orji Kalu, Ken Nnamani among others.
When he mentioned the name of the former Akwa Ibom governor, the lawmaker who interjected asked him “Who is Akpabio?”
“These are political pensioners,” Melaye said mockingly.
“You
called Akpabio a political pensioner? Keyamo asked as the lawmaker
restated his earlier comment saying the former governor was not just a
political pensioner but “a big one.”
Another round of heated
argument began with the legal practitioner claiming that the PDP
candidate has conceded defeat by alleging that the APC were out to
import fraudulent devices from China aimed at frustrating him in his
stronghold during the election. The lawmaker rejected the defeat claim
and sent the “defeat arrow” back to the sender.
The moderator hurriedly closed the noisy segment.
POLITICS
TIMES recalls that the incumbent governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom
Emmanuel, was installed by Akpabio single-handedly. He has since turned
against his successor and currently spearheading to install Nsima Ekere
as the next governor.
Mr Ekere running on the platform of the
APC had served Akpabio as running mate while the federal lawmaker held
sway as governor.
Messrs Udom and Ekere are from Eket Senatorial
District whose turn it is to serve out their remaining four years
rotational power zoning.
Akpabio is expected by the leadership of
the APC to deliver majority of votes coming from the state to Buhari
having did so for former president Goodluck Jonathan, even though he
lost his re-election bid to the incumbent president who has boasted
that nobody can unseat him.
Source:- Politicstimesng
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