Former Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State, Hon Jonathan Vatsa, has called on Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to immediately resign his position and apologise to the protesting youth over his utterances on the ongoing nationwide End Bad Governance protests.
Vatsa said the Senate President has not only embarrassed the APC, where he has “come to continue eating” after 16 years of being in the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), but also his constituency and the Senate, and indeed all Nigerians, with his statements.
The former publicity secretary of the party in Niger State, in a statement in Minna on Tuesday, titled “Time for Akpabio to Go is Now,” reacting to comments attributed to the Senate President, said it is unfortunate that while eminent and distinguished Nigerians are busy appealing to the protesting youths to give peace a chance and embrace dialogue with the government over the current economic hardship, “Akpabio decided to go the comedian way.”
It could be recalled that Akpabio, in the buildup to the End Bad Governance protest last week, said those who wanted to protest could do so while he and others loyal to President Bola Tinubu would continue eating from his administration.
“While you protest, we shall be eating,” Akpabio was quoted as saying. An utterance Vatsa described as “very callous and regrettable, coming from the number three citizen of the country.”
Vatsa said in an ideal situation and in a decent society, Akpabio shouldn’t have been made the Senate President in an APC-controlled government, stressing that “these were the same group of people that we accused of looting this country for 16 years.”
“It is a huge error and a disservice to this country to turn around and make someone like Akpabio Senate President in an APC government. That is why this government can never get it right.
“APC as a party has been hijacked by those that Nigerians were fed up with and decided to embrace ‘Change’ in 2015. They have been eating and they want to continue eating, as Akpabio made Nigerians believe.”
According to Vatsa, “I said it before and I will repeat it again: it is sad that we are giving red carpet receptions to those we initially accused of looting this country with reckless abandon, so how can we get it right?
“The same eating Akpabio did for 16 years under the PDP government, he still wants to continue under the APC government. This is a tragedy for the nation.”
Aside from this, Vatsa said that many criteria disqualified Akpabio from holding the position of Senate President under an APC-controlled government, stressing that “Akpabio is from a state controlled by the opposition party and therefore shouldn’t have been allowed to occupy the seat of Senate President.”
He expressed regret that the party leadership could not find a competent person to be Senate President despite the calibre of intellectuals in the South East and South-South, stressing that “recently the same Akpabio publicly insulted a married woman on the floor of the Senate by comparing her with nightclub girls, only for him to turn around and tender a belated apology.”
“The sins of Akpabio so far as Senate President are worse than those of Ali Ndume, which earned him a suspension. I therefore call on the Senate President to immediately resign his position in order to restore the dignity of our great party.
“This party must begin to redeem its image and build confidence in Nigerians before 2027. This must start with Akpabio’s resignation to let Nigerians know that we are serious as a party,” he added. (Courtesy, excluding headline, Daily Sun)
