Akpabio will be next senate president, says Ganduje

Abdullahi Ganduje, outgoing governor of Kano state, says Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, is the next president of the senate.

Ganduje spoke on Thursday at a meeting with Ben Ayade, his Cross River counterpart, in Calabar, the state capital.

Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, was also present at the meeting.

The Kano governor said the decision to nominate Akpabio was already a done deal, but he did not explain if it was a decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership.

“The senate president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will come from the south-south and it is no other person than the former governor of Akwa Ibom,” he said.

“The uncommon governor, the uncommon minister who is going to be the uncommon president of the senate. So we have resolved that.

“I am giving you assurance, we are waiting for the D-Day that he will be the senate president of Nigeria.”

On his part, Ayade expressed gratitude for the choice of Akpabio.

“I want to thank you so much for zoning the senate president to the south-south and to our brother from a neighbouring state who is also part of Cross River state,” the governor said.

“We want to thank you for this great opportunity because our dream of a Bakassi seaport is becoming very real.”

Akpabio and Orji Kalu, a former governor of Abia state, are among the frontrunners from the south for the senate president seat.