Politics

Tinubu: I’ll transform Nigeria with Akpabio, Abbas on my side

President Bola Tinubu says the efforts of his administration to transform Nigeria’s economy are yielding results with the support of the National Assembly led by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.

Speaking at a colloquium to mark the 61st birthday of Akpabio in Abuja on Thursday, December 14, 2023, Tinubu said the challenges facing the country will be jointly assessed by the executive and legislature with a view to evolving implementable solutions for the good of Nigerians.

“Having Senate President Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Abbas, on my side is enough for me to succeed, and we will succeed,” the president said.

Extolling the leadership credentials of the Senate President, Tinubu said Akpabio has always shown commitment to national development, starting as a commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, where he understudied Lagos; drew up a blueprint and implemented it as a two-term governor.

He said: “I believe in the person of Sen. Godswill Akpabio. He is truly in God’s will for his life. I was governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and he was a commissioner.

“As a commissioner, he was extremely inquisitive about what was going on in Lagos. I didn’t know then that he wanted to be a governor. As governor, he transformed Akwa Ibom tremendously.”

President Tinubu further recalled how some of the economic and social programmes initiated by Akpabio, when he was governor, developed the state, noting that the drainage system the Senate President constructed saved many lives and livelihoods.

In his remarks, Akpabio commended President Tinubu for his visionary leadership, which he said demonstrated recently in the quality of decisions taken so far to ensure improved security and a revamped economy.

The Senate President said: “You are the first President who openly stepped out and said you believed that someone like me would make a difference as Senate President.

“It is not that the National Assembly is an appendage of the executive. President Tinubu is the first to get it right. Mr. President, there’s no country that you have been to that investors did not rush to meet with you.”

He assured Tinubu that the National Assembly would work with him to transform the country, adding: “We did not come for a boxing bout. We came to transform Nigeria.”

On his part, Abbas thanked President Tinubu for articulating his economic vision clearly for the National Assembly, departing from what he described as “impulsive programmes”.

The Star