Guardians of Democracy and Development, a civil society organisation (CSO) that promotes good governance and policy reforms has raised alarm over what it described as the unbridled ambition of some politicians who are tirelessly working to dethrone and succeed Senator Godswill Akpabio, the current Senate President.
In a statement signed and distributed to journalist at a press conference in Abuja by the National Coordinator, Amb. Joseph Ovie, the group described as malicious and mischievous covert plots to sponsor protests and media wars to discredit the person of the Senate President.
According to the statement, “we have gotten credible intelligence to the effect that a former governor who is interested in becoming the Senate President has decided to go through the backdoor, seeking to bring the integrity of Senator Godswill Akpabio to disrepute in order to warrant an impeachment and a possible takeover by him. This is uncharitable and undemocratic. It is therefore our position that whoever is involved should desist forthwith or face the wrath of Nigerians”.
The group equally frowned at the manner in which some politicians and groups with vested interests have mischievously taken the genuine and patriotic utterances of the Senate President out of context and are using it to blackmail him, insisting that Nigerians are too educated to fall for such infantile schemes.
“Twisting innocent comments and facts out of context to ridicule and embarrass a renowned leader like Senator Godswill Akpabio will not work. Nigerians know the leaders that care about them and Akpabio is one of them. The fact that he stood with the masses and refused the passage of an anti-people legislation should be praised. ‘Let the poor breath’ was simply a sympathetic posture towards the masses against suffocating laws. We find it disturbing that people can see the truth but choose to be mischievous”, the statement added.
The the also charged those who are misled and sponsored to spread falsehood against the Senate President including reference to none existent cases of corruption and a baseless claim of insensitivity regarding the disbursement of holiday packages for Senators for the benefit of their constituents to refrain from allowing themselves to be used as means to an end.
“It is shameful that even in the twenty first century where it is easy to access credible information, some person’s have decided to be gullible. Senator Godswill Akpabio has no court cases against him anywhere. Senator Akpabio has served the country credibly both at the state and national level and no amount of name-calling and allegations will diminish his political stature. Those intimidated by his growing influence and power should work on being relevant rather than seeking to run an innocent man down with non-existent allegations”, the statement added.
The group finally called on Mr. President and all security agencies to do everything within their powers to thwart the criminal efforts of some failed politicians who cannot even control politics in their home states and have been disgraced nationally out of office from heating and distabilising the polity. The group finally urged Senators and indeed all Nigerians to support the Senate President who is a strategic ally of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “for an efficient administration and sustainable development of the country”
