The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senators-elect and the major opposition have rejected the choice of Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President of the 10th Assembly.
The opposition was reacting to the outcome of the eight-man caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress, APC with the President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu on Friday morning at his residence in Abuja.
The much-awaited zoning of principal officers of the 10th National Assembly was made public and has since elicited reactions.
Akpabio was a two-time governor of Akwa Ibom on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress before he became the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Akpabio is set to be deputised by Senator Jibrin Barau from Kano.
Similarly, Tajudeen Abass from Kaduna State has been tipped by the APC caucus as the Speaker of the lower legislative Chamber to be deputised by Benjamin Kalu from Abia State.
Checks by News correspondent on Saturday found that Senator Barau and Abbas are from the North-West zone, a development that is seriously generating ripples in the APC.
A newly elected Senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party from the South-South who pleaded anonymity spoke and revealed that Akpabio is not in the good books of the party.
He said: “The choice of Akpabio is not acceptable to us. We are the major opposition in the 10th Senate and APC should listen to us. We don’t want Akpabio.”
“Only 3 out of 36 PDP Senators are backing Akpabio which I know, the Senators-elect are from Rivers State and governor Nyesom Wike urged them to support him.
“He is offering us money but we don’t want his money because he is not principled. He will eventually sell out the Senate if allowed to be the Senate President, the source alleged.
“Remember what he did in 2018/2019. The PDP honoured him as a first-timer in the Senate by giving him an exalted position of Minority Leader.
”Without any just cause, save for his pocket and selfish interest, he abandoned the PDP midstream and joined APC. He was rewarded with a ministerial position. We can’t trust such a person as a Senate President, he is unstable,” the PDP Senator-elect from South-South claimed.