Akpabio: I’m not vying for 2027 presidency with El-Rufai

Senate President Godswill Akpabio says he has no intention to contest the 2027 presidential election alongside the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.

Akpabio made this known in reaction to posters circulating in some parts of Kaduna associating him with a political ambition ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

A statement issued by the Senate President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Eseme Eyiboh, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, read: “We want to state in very clear and unequivocal terms that Senator Godswill Akpabio does not have any intention to contest for president in 2027 nor is he nursing any ambition of a joint presidential ticket with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai or any other person by whatever name.

“This is the handiwork of mischief makers and familiar fifth columnists and those bent on opening up windows for tar brushing of the President’s loyalists. The action is spurious and mischievous.

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“Senator Akpabio is presently preoccupied with the responsibility of collaborating and providing the required legislative support to President Bola Tinubu to reset Nigeria and make the nation regain its pride of place in the comity of nations. This is exactly what Senate President Akpabio, as the Chairman of the National Assembly has been doing since June 13, 2023; and has never at any time contemplated running for President in 2027 or at any other time.

“It is therefore, embarrassing for anyone to link the person of Senate President Godswill Akpabio to an insipid presidential ambition, when a competent, trusted and tested leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is in the driving seat, effectively navigating the contours of purposeful leadership and adept governance with his renewed Hope Agenda.”

Eyiboh, therefore, enjoined Nigerians to disregard “this unbridled mischief intended” to distract the citizens from the “purposeful and positive interventions the Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio is demonstrating.”

“We also urge the security agencies to undertake serious investigations to unravel the promoters of this ugly enterprise,” he added.

The Star