Strong
indications emerged on Friday that a former Akwa Ibom State Governor,
Senator Godswill Akpabio, may emerge as the Senate Minority Leader when
the upper chamber resumes on July 21. Akpabio is a first time senator.
A senator, who disclosed the development
to our correspondent in Abuja, said Akpabio started making the move
immediately after the announcement of the Peoples Democratic Party’s
zoning arrangement this week.
According to him, two ranking senators,
James Manager (Delta State) and Thompson Sekibo (Rivers State) had
expressed their intention to contest and had emerged as possible
contenders.
Manager is a fourth time member of the red chamber, while Sekibo is on his third term.
Close watchers of developments in the
senate had believed that Manager would automatically become the minority
leader following the decision of former Senate President, David Mark,
to decline interest in the position.
However, Akpabio showed interest in the
race last week and was said to have contacted the incumbent Governor of
Akwa-Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, and the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom
Wike, to prevail on the 17 senators of the South-South to support him.
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