We’ll Address Issues Arising From APC Primaries, Akpabio Tells Defeated Senators 

By Olumuyiwa Olumuyiwa

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has assured lawmakers who lost in the recently conducted primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that matters arising from the exercise will be duly addressed.

Akpabio said the final list of candidates would be released in due course in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines.

He,  however, noted that addressing the outcomes of the primaries does not guarantee the declaration of the senators as winners of the elections, stressing that he never promised any of the current lawmakers senatorial tickets as it’s been widely reported.

According to the senate president, the efforts wiould help  to reduce the political fallout from the primary season for senators.

The senate president spoke on Tuesday, while welcoming lawmakers back from the three-week recess and the Eid-el-Kabir break.

“And in this senate, we are promised that we will have very few disappointments. And I do know that the senate leader and the leadership of the senate are working very hard towards that,” he said.

Akpabio clarified his position in a  statement issued on Saturday by his Eseme Eyiboh, his special adviser on media and publicity.

According to the statement, Akpabio merely expressed sympathy for senators who were adversely affected by the outcome of the exercise.

The statement said he assured the lawmakers that the APC leadership was working to address issues arising from the primaries.

“What the President of the Senate actually said, in the course of interacting with his colleagues, was to empathize with senators who were affected negatively by the outcome of their primary elections,” the statement reads.

“He assured them that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is actively working to address all issues arising from the primaries and that the final list of candidates will be released in due course in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines.”

The senate president said he remains committed to party discipline and due process.

The statement added that Akpabio would not interfere in the internal processes of the APC or make commitments beyond the authority of the national assembly leadership.

Fourteen serving senators were defeated during the APC primaries across different states.