The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, last week retracted his statement that the federal government gave state governors N30 billion each to address the food crisis in their various states. His statement, made penultimate week, raised questions among the populace as to how efficiently the governors planned to utilise the funds. –
However, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, countered the Senate president’s statement, saying it was erroneous. The governor, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that as a stakeholder and vice-chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, he could not keep quiet in the face of such falsehood.
But in a statement last Monday by his spokesman Eseme Eyiboh, Akpabio took back his statement, saying that he was only urging state governments to collaborate with the federal government. He urged the governors not to be distracted by any misunderstanding of the context and true meaning of the statement.
It has since come to the fore that even the N5 billion the federal government promised to give the state governors to alleviate the suffering of the people, only N2 billion has so far been released. This is why Akpabio needed to be circumspect.
Since he became Senate president, he has been reckless with remarks and comments. The retraction of his comments about the governors is a case in point. Senators are supposed to be distinguished in their utterances and conducts. This has not been the case with Akpabio who is fond of indulging himself in beer parlour talks.
Recently, Akpabio had equally courted controversy when he recklessly said the allegations against the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele are so numerous that the federal government does not know which charges to pin on him. He went ahead to blame the economic hardship in the country on the policies of the former CBN governor. This comment has earned him a libel suit.
The office and position of the Senate president is so exalted that Akpabio does not need to always subject it to frequent public ridicule. He needs to always be circumspect and ensures that he avoids controversies. He should verify his facts before making public comments
