Senate President Godswill Akpabio has denied promising any of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators who lost in the party primaries that they would be given return tickets for the next election.
His comments were taken out of context, he said, and he only expressed concern for senators that were impacted by the results of the primaries.
No one had been promised tickets, there was no report of that.
However, his media aide, Eseme Sunday Eyiboh, denied reports that Akpabio promised senatorial tickets to losing aspirants. It said he did not approve or authorise such claims.
The statement added that the Senate President only spoke in a general discussion with his colleagues where he expressed sympathy over their situation.
It also pointed out that the leadership of the APC is already dealing with issues that arose after the primaries and that the final list of candidates will be in line with the party’s rules and guidelines.
Akpabio also said he respects party processes and will not interfere in how candidates are chosen within the party structure.
The statement partly read, “The attention of the Office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to misleading reports making the rounds in some sections of the media that the President of the Senate has promised to deliver senatorial tickets to Senators who lost their party primaries.
“We want to state categorically that this report does not represent the position of the President of the Senate. Just for the record, Senator Akpabio has not made such a promise nor has he authorised any one to make such a promise.
“What the President of the Senate actually said, in the course of interacting with his colleagues, was to empathize with senators who were negatively affected by the outcome of their primary elections.
He assured them that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was on top of all issues arising from the primaries and that the final list of candidates would be released in due course in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines.
“Senator Akpabio is still committed to party discipline, due process and the internal mechanisms of the APC for dispute resolution.
“He will not interfere in the autonomous processes of the party or make commitments that are beyond the purview of the National Assembly leadership.”
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