Senate President Godswill Akpabio has urged outgoing second-term governors across Nigeria to exercise caution in selecting their successors, warning against the elevation of unprepared loyalists to leadership positions.
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Akpabio gave the advice on Saturday during the commissioning of the first completed 30 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in the Lekki area of Lagos State. The event drew high-profile attendees including President Bola Tinubu; Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka; Minister of Finance Wale Edun; Minister of Works Dave Umahi; Governors Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), and other dignitaries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Akpabio — a former governor of Akwa Ibom State — warned that political miscalculations during succession planning often lead to disappointment and betrayal.
“We have a president who has both sight and vision,” Akpabio said. “And this for me is something I must advise our governors, particularly those of them who are in their second term.”
He cautioned against choosing sycophants or seemingly submissive individuals without the capacity or ambition for governance.
“Do not give power to anybody who is not looking for power. Don’t give power to anybody who is not prepared,” he said. “Don’t go hiding in your heart that this boy is very subservient — he is always kneeling when he is talking to me, his wife is always rolling on the floor — so I think I should make this one the governor.
“If you do that, you are giving power to somebody who is not prepared for governance and they will disappoint you. This is where betrayals normally start. I am just trying to give some advice.”
Akpabio praised the leadership of President Tinubu, saying the Progressive Governors’ Forum was thriving under his direction.
“For the progressive governors, I believe that all of you are doing well because you are being led by a man who has both sight and vision,” he said.
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