Senate President Godswill Akpabio has again hit Godwin Emefiele, the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for leaving behind a “foamy economy.”
Though ‘foamy’ economy is not a standard economic term, Artificial Intelligence says ‘foamy’ economy is characterized by speculation, bubbles or unstable growth.
On his earlier remark about Emefiele being responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes, Akpabio said, “I still stand by my position.”
Akpabio alleged that Emefiele “left a very big hole in the national treasury,” urging Nigerians to be patient with President Bola Tinubu administration,
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According to him, President Tinubu inherited a battered economy which he is currently trying to rally cash and deploying his knowledge to salvage and navigate away from the stranglehold of sleaze and corruption.
The Senate President stated this at Ikot Ekpene Stadium over the weekend when his kinsmen from Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District hosted him and his National Assembly colleagues in a reception since he became the president of the Senate last year.
While expressing optimism and confidence in the economy bouncing back stronger, Akpabio assured that President Tinubu has the magic wand to retool the economy back on the trajectory of growth as he did as Governor under which Lagos became one of the most buoyant economies in Africa.
He stressed that with three former governors, Tinubu, a former Lagos State Governor, as President; Kashim Shettima, former Borno State Governor as Vice President, and himself, a former Akwa Ibom State governor, their knowledge and ingenuity in politics and socio-economic governance would be aggregated and galvanized to rescue the country for the greater good of Nigerians.
Akpabio assured the people of the state, the South-South region and the country of all-round federal presence, adding that the coastal road coming all the way from Lagos to Calabar would cut across various states in the Southwest, South-East and the South-South political zones, with attendant socio-economic developments.
The Senate President also assured the host governor, Pastor Umo Eno of the Deep Seaport, and other federal government projects, and urged him to liaise with the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Samuel Ogbuku, to extend the ongoing road project from the neighbouring Abia State to Ini, Ikono, Ikot Ekpene to connect Uyo, the state capital.
“You have asked of seaport, you will not only get Seaport, you get roads, flyovers, and other federal projects, and we are going to do this because of you,” he stressed.
In his remarks, Governor Eno pledged to work with the Tinubu administration in spite of political party differences to bring development to the state.
He appealed to the Senate President not to truncate the governorship succession plan laid down in the state by successive approximations since the return of democracy in 1999, by allowing him to see through his eight years as was the case of Obong Victor Attah (1999-2007); Chief Godswill Akpabio (2007 -2015) and Mr. Udom Emmanuel (2015-2023).
Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, also extolled the leadership virtues of Senator Akpabio, noting that as the National Assembly Chairman, he has been a stabilising influence and ‘Unifier-in-Chief’ who is engendering the executive-legislative harmony.
Ekpo moves for Akpabio’s second term
The beautifully decorated Ikot Ekpene Township Stadium assumed the role of a parliamentary session on Saturday as Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon (Obongemem) Ekperikpe Ekpo moved a motion for the adoption of Senator Godswill Akpabio by the people of Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district as sole candidate of all political parties for the 2027 election.
The event was the public reception organised by the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district for Akpabio as Senate President.
Ekpo’s motion was seconded by Hon Dr. Patrick Umoh, House of Representatives member representing Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Obot Akara federal constituency and was generally agreed through a voice votes on the affirmative.
The Gas Minister who described Akpabio as a father, role model, a man of grace who has served the state and senatorial district meritoriously and deserved to be allowed to run for the 2027 Senate unopposed citing his magnanimous decision to allow Senator Aloysius Etuk run for two terms in the same senatorial district.
“Will we not allow such a man to go for another term? We know that even if you sleep and election is conducted you will win…but the people have mandated me to ask you that come 2027, no body will buy any form to contest that seat from any of the political parties in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district…the people have told me to inform you that,” Ekpo said amid thunderous applause from the crowd.
Ekpo thanked the large crowd that turned up for the event, saying the former governor of the state deserved all the honour and felicitations from the people.
The Minister also extolled the peaceful disposition of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno to governance, urging the Senate President to partner Eno for the development of the state.
Ekpo described Eno as a “shepherd that should be celebrated,” imploring Akpabio not to listen to those who come to him to blackmail and backbite the governor.
The minister tasked Akpabio “to teach Governor Eno” how to perform and deliver dividends of democracy to Akwa Ibom State just as he did as governor.
