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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Godswill Akpabio has formally informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his intent to become the Senate president.
The former minister of Niger Delta Affairs and senator-elect for Ikot-Ekpene district, disclosed this after meeting with the president at his official residence inside the President Villa, Abuja, on Sunday evening.
He said he also assured the president that he would work closely with the Bola Tinubu’s administration to empower Nigerians, particularly the youth.
He stated that he used the visit to thank the president for giving him the chance to serve as Minister in his administration in addition to informing him of his intention to lead the next Senate.
“It’s well known that Akpabio is a results-driven individual. You will remember that when I was a governor, I made significant contributions to infrastructure, education, social issues, and human empowerment.
“I intend to bring a lot of reforms into the Senate, in the ways and manners we do business, to assist the next administration to succeed. We will be very thorough in doing everything; we’ll bring about loyalty to the Constitution, we’ll bring about loyalty to Nigerians.
“We will tackle issues through legislations to empower Nigerians and particularly the youth. The restiveness that we are seeing across the nation, we’ll do our best to make good laws and to assist the administration to bring about policies that will empower the youths of the country.
“I made that promise even on the convention day that being a man who used to turn boys into men and who still does, that I will like to work with the in-coming president, who has also shown that example in Lagos State as a governor and thereafter as a leader of the APC in Nigeria. He has continued to turn boys into men and as the President of the Country, after his swearing-in, I expect that he continue to do so.
“So the youths are in for a very good time, in terms of empowerment, there will be no time for slacking and we’ll restrict a lot of them from being lured into criminality, into brigandage and all that. So we’ll get them working and I believe that with the help of the Almighty that both the National Assembly and the Executive will do a lot for the youths of this country”, he said.
Asked how his consultations with other lawmakers and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were going, he said “yes, we have been doing that, we’ve done a lot of consultations and they’ve been very positive and well received. It’s almost like a woman who is already eight months pregnant, just a month to deliver”.
