Senator Ali Ndume has clarified that Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, is not the “anointed” candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for senate president of the 10th national assembly.
The Borno South senator who spoke in a chat with Arise TV on Monday, said Akpabio is only a preferred choice of the party.
The APC had nominated Akpabio and Abbas Tajudeen, a ranking member of the house of representatives, as leaders of the 10th national assembly.
Akpabio was nominated for president of the senate, while Tajudeen was endorsed for the role of speaker of the house of representatives.
The announcement came after two months of intense politicking by some lawmakers-elect for leadership positions in the national assembly.
Reacting to the party’s declaration, Ndume said describing Akpabio as the anointed candidate would connote a “fait accompli”, adding that the label does not represent the situation.
Ndume, who had also declared his interest in the position, said the senators would still have to vote to determine the leader of 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,” he said.
“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.”