A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Tom Ohikere, has revealed that the support base of Godswill Akpabio has collapsed because of his alleged failure to meet up with what he called the party’s integrity test.
Assessing the three front runners for the post of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Orji Uzor Kalu, and Osita Izunaso, respectively, Dr Ohikere, who doubles as the Publisher, APC NewsOnline, said both Akpabio and Orji failed the integrity test.
According to Ohikere, the exposure of various court cases has made the shift in support of them to shift to Osita Izunaso, who has no known baggage.
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The APC NewsOnline Publisher said most Senators-elect withdrew their support from both Akpabio and Orji because their baggages are too heavy to ignore.
As for Akpabio, he said “Godswill Akpabio has not escaped the rigorous radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he was arrested and an investigation is ongoing into the alleged theft of N108.1 billion of Akwa Ibom funds.”
In March 2023, Akpabio was invited by the EFCC over allegations of N40 billion fraud perpetrated in the NDDC, a ministry which he headed for three years. ”
Similarly, in 2021, the Senator-elect was detained after he attempted to bribe the Chairman of the anti-graft agency, Abdulrasheed Bawa, with $350,000 (about N135 million). According to sources, Akpabio was trying to bribe the EFCC Chairman because of the tons of corruption allegations against him dating back to the time he was governor of Akwa Ibom State. ”
For Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, the APC chieftain said, Orji who was the Chief Whip of the 9th Senate also comes with his own baggage, as he was released from jail in 2020 by a federal high court in Lagos, months after a federal high court on December 5, 2019, slammed him 12 years term.
He said Orji was convicted of N7.1bn fraud together with his firm, Slok Nigeria Limited and a former Director of Finance at the Abia State Government House, Jones Udeogu, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/56/2007 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Orji Uzor Kalu & 2 Ors on December 5, 2020, saying that based on these available facts, support for him also reduced drastically.
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The former Zamfara governor, Abdulazeez Yari, was also not spared in the analysis because of his encounter with the EFCC in May last year 2022.
Dr. Ohikere, politician cum publisher explained that in Nigeria’s political space, its very hard to see anyone going for a coveted position as the Senate President that his integrity history won’t come under public scrutiny.
Ohikere however said, out of the contenders, only Senator Osita Izunaso has passed the integrity test with no baggage attached to him, saying integrity test indicated that Izunaso remains the most preferred who has neither court nor anti-graft agencies breathing down his neck.
“Senator Izunaso has the requisite experience and political dexterity and is coming with a clean record, without any fraud or criminal case attached to his name”
“As such only an individual that meets the requisite integrity test deserves to seat in such a highly esteemed and highly coveted position” he concluded.
