There are presently two factions of the National Assembly vying for the position of President of the Senate: the camp of Senator Akpabio, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, and that of Abdulaziz Yari, the former governor of Zamfara State.

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In advance of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, there have been a number of debates between reelected and newly elected legislators.

Different factions of the assembly claim to have the most supporters.

On Sunday, however, Ndume, who is guiding Akpabio's camp, boasted that their priority is to deliver their candidate as the presiding officer and that they have the necessary votes to do so.

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The lawmaker referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) case against Akpabio as a sponsored effort.

He said, 

“It is not surprising that whenever a politically exposed person is contesting elections, some people would be sponsored to raise issues against him or her.

“Don’t forget that President Bola Tinubu was also severely accused when he was campaigning to be president.

“We are not actually bothered about what the sponsored groups are saying about Akpabio, the anti-graft agencies know what to do, why are they teaching them what to do?

 

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“They are accusing that some corrupt activities took place under his watch at the NDDC but they did not say he misappropriated funds as governor or as Minister.

“Akpabio was not the accounting officer of the NDDC; he was only heading the supervising ministry.

“They also accused him of not constituting the board of the NDDC but that also, was not his job. The president of the country is saddled with such responsibility,” Ndume added, noting that many Senators are in their camp.”