Don’t be distracted by Ireti Kingibe, Akpabio tells Wike

Senate President Godswill Akpabio says Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), should not allow himself to be distracted by Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the nation’s capital.

Akpabio spoke on Tuesday at the flag-off of the construction of a bus terminal in the Kugbo area of Abuja.

The senate president said he watched Kingibe on television, complaining that she was not being carried along by Wike in the affairs of the FCT.

“I saw one of the legislators on television talking about you (Wike) and mentioning the fact that she was not carried along,” Akpabio said.

“Well, she is a member of the senate. Once a decision is taken, she is bound by the decision.

“Please ignore every distraction, and then be rest assured that no matter what you do, not everyone will praise you; others will still try to find faults.

“Some were saying why roads alone? But we are about to flag off a project that will touch the lives of the people.”

In June, Kingibe, standing on an order of privilege, told the senate that she had been “excluded” from matters about the nation’s capital.

At the time, the upper legislative chamber was considering a N98.5 billion supplementary budget for the FCT, which the senator said she did not know anything about.

“Though I am in the committee of the FCT, whenever matters — critical matters of budget or anything to do with the FCT are being discussed, I am never told,” the senator said.

But Akpabio interrupted Kingibe and asked her to present the matter on the next legislative day.

“Do we suspend it till tomorrow? Noted,” Akpabio said as he slammed the gavel.

The matter never came up again.

It was thereafter that Kingibe granted an interview to Arise Television, to which the senate president referred in his comments during the flag-off of the bus terminal project.

On Monday, Wike said Kingibe would not return as FCT senator in 2027.

At the close of Wednesday’s plenary, Akpabio said a matter of privilege would be addressed in a closed-door session.

The session is thought to be about Akpabio’s comments about the senator.