An aspirant for the Senate Presidency, Senator Godswill Akpabio has asked Nigerians and members of the incoming 10th National Assembly to judge him by his record as Governor of Akwa Ibom State for eight years.
Akpabio stated that he should not be assessed by his performance as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs but by his service as a lawyer of 36 years, and Commissioner for six years.
Naija News reports that Akpabio, who is the preferred candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Senate Presidency, stated these in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Saturday night.
He said: “I do know that I have not changed in any way. I am somebody God has given me the opportunity to be an uncommon transformer wherever I go. I will not like to be judged by ministerial appointment for Niger Delta, which everybody knows is a problematic place. But I would like to be judged by my record as a lawyer of 36 years, Commissioner of six years, and a governor of eight years.”
He promised that if elected Senate President, Nigerians he would sustain the January-December budget cycle initiated by the 9th National Assembly.
According to him, the introduction of the January-December budget cycle was one of the major success stories of the outgoing Assembly.
He said, “If given the opportunity by my colleagues to lead the 10th Assembly, one of the programmes I will like to sustain would be the January to December budget cycle
“The Introduction of that is what I commend the 9th National Assembly for very seriously because it allows for proper planning and allows the government to take off on a good note and also help bring about foreign direct investment into the country.
“So I think that will be sustained by the 10th Senate and that is whether I am Senate President or not. I believe working with my colleagues, we shall sustain it because it is a collective idea. Everybody is important.”
The former Akwa Ibom governor also explained his relationship with some of his colleagues opposing his ambition.
He said: “On the issue of whether somebody is supportive or not, that is not the issue. The issue is that we must continue to engage. God has put us together for the next four years.
“We must continue to speak to people so that whatever perception they have which is really not correct about me will be totally debunked.”