Retreat: No Accomodation, No Direction, Akpabio Treating Us Like His Children, Angry Senators Lament

Senators of the 10th Senate have continued to lament on the leadership style of the president of the senate, Godswill Akpabio.

Some of lawmakers who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity slammed Akpabio for treating them like children, accusing Akpabio of abandonment and disrespect.

The lawmakers who are in Ikot Ekpene for a 2-day retreat organized by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), were in total disarray upon arrival.

A senator from the South-south geo-political zone in a chat with our correspondent said: “We arrived here yesterday, and nothing was on ground. We were left stranded without an accomodation. Some of us went back to Uyo because even the senate president failed to show up. Akpabio just brought us to his hometown without proper arrangements. He is treating us like his children; wanting everybody to worship him like God. This is not fair. This is democracy.”

Another lawmaker from the North-west geopolitical zone called on the senate president to resign over his “ineffective leadership style”.

“This retreat would have been held in Abuja to save money for Nigerians, but the senate president insisted on bringing us to his village. We are here, but he is not here. We don’t have accomodation, and we are stranded.”

Yesterday, the National Democratic Coalition in the United States slammed the leadership style of the senate president.

This is as the group alleged that Akpabio lacked empathy for the suffering of the Nigerians.

The pro-democracy group also chided the Senate president for failing to carry other senators along in certain affairs of the upper chamber.

The call for his resignation was championed in a statement released to newsmen Tuesday in Abuja by the Executive Director of NADECO USA, Lloyd Ukwu.

The statement reads, “Akpabio has shown a lack of empathy for poor and suffering Nigerian masses when he recently turned a ‘let Nigerians breathe’ comment by a senator into a pun which attracted mocking laughter from his colleagues during plenary.

“Only recently, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) and Senator Mohammed Onawo (Nasarawa South) openly accused Akpabio of not giving senators adequate opportunity to interrogate and scrutinize bills, especially money bills, and warned that history would judge him for approving executive requests and passing important legislations posthaste.”

The development came barely 24 hours after the senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Elisha Abbo, accused the former Akwa Ibom governor of being behind his election nullification by an Abuja Court of Appeal.