10th NASS Leadership: Akpabio’s Fate Uncertain

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly slated for June 13, there
are strong indications that President Bola Tinubu may have changed his mind over
the choice of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Mr Tajudeen Abass as Senate
President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively.

Senate sources reliably informed the Press that barring any last-minute changes,
the President may also pick the next Speaker from the North-West and announce
his choice on Thursday. It was further gathered that Tinubu had sent emissaries to
notable aspirants among the G-6 to placate them.

The source said: “As of Monday night, the President was still sending emissaries
to notable aspirants among the G-6 but it appeared that they were still very angry
with the way they were treated by those who presented the proposal to the
President before his inauguration”.

Speaking on Akpabio’s aspiration for the Senate Presidency, the source said: “In
all these, the issue of the Senate Presidency is paramount because that is the
most important. To be honest with you, Akpabio still has a lot of issues around
the bid to be Senate president”.

A Reps-elect, who spoke on the conditions of anonymity, also disclosed that the
current deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Idris Wase and
Tajudeen Abass, may be given ministerial slots to represent their states.

The source said, “For the G-6, I think we have made tremendous progress
because the president has conceded to drop the choice put forward by the
outgoing speaker, I mean Abass, but he still insisted that the northwest must
produce the speaker”.