Ekpenyong, the senator-elect representing Cross River South, disclosed that the former governor of Akwa Ibom remains the man to beat.
The former Cross River commissioner, who featured on Arise news popular programme ‘Prime Time,’ expressed confidence that Akpabio clearly holds the ace with the backing of the ruling party and 75 senators-elect, including those in the opposition political parties.
The APC had micro-zoned the position of Senate president to Akpabio while the Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Jibrin Barau, was adopted for the office of Deputy Senate President.
In the House of Representatives, the seat of Speaker was zoned to popular Kaduna legislator, Tajudeen Abass, while the reps-elect from South East, Kalu, clinched the Deputy Speaker slot.
But the arrangement had sparked outrage from other aspirants in the race and their cronies, with many blaming the party leadership for not consulting them before making the announcement.
Ekpenyong’s assertion mirrors the earlier position of Senator Ali Ndume that Akpabio has the support of 75 legislators ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
He said, “For the sake of the unity of this country and the sense of belonging required, it is important that religion plays a role. But that is not all of it. So, the Senate President must be a Christian for a modicum of balancing. We have the numbers and we are reaching out to the opposition senators-elect. What I find is a lot of propaganda online and sponsored media articles. But Akpabio will emerge on Tuesday.
“The word stability comes to mind when you vote for Akpabio. The framers of the constitution of Nigeria modelled the legislature against that of the United States bicameral legislature where you have the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“In the Senate, there is equality and each state has equal Senators. There are three Senators per state. It is important to balance this country because the framers of our constitution looked at Nigeria as an amalgamation of different tribes and different ethnic groups and it is important for each state to have a sense of belonging.”
