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Clockwise from bottom left: Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and the G5
The immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, says all members of the G5 supported the emergence of Godswill Akpabio and Tajudeen Abbas as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The G5 refers to a group of five former and incumbent governors who rejected Atiku Abubakar as the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election over the party’s zoning arrangement.
They include Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, as well as former governors Wike, Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Okezie Ikpeaz (Abia).
Their seeming alliance between them and President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress has drawn scrutiny and speculation as to possible defections.
At a media briefing in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the former Rivers governor said the election of Akpabio from the South-South as the president of the Senate is “a clear testimony that Nigerians are interested in the unity of the country”.
Wike stated that, by the result, President Bola Tinubu has equally proven that he will not allow the country to be polarised.
Describing Akpabio as qualified and experienced, he argued that the Senate President would not lead a “rubber stamp” assembly.
“I don’t believe that Akpabio will be rubber stamped. I also supported him because he equally supported me when I was running for governorship,” Wike said.
“Akpabio is a competent, qualified and educated person. He is an orator who can represent this country anywhere. What other qualifications do you want?
“Rivers state and the G5 Governors all supported Akpabio because we couldn’t stop our support midway.”
According to him, his interest was not about a political party, but the nation, therefore his party, the PDP, cannot query him for his stance.
Wike advised Akpabio and Abbas not to fail Nigerians by being “rubber stamped”, but also added that they should not fight with the President.
He noted that not fighting with the President does not mean being a “rubber stamped” assembly.
