Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed reports claiming he promised senatorial tickets to lawmakers who lost in the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akpabio had given hints of attempts to secure favourable outcomes for serving senators affected by recent primary polls.
The president of the Senate spoke on Tuesday, while welcoming lawmakers back from the three-week recess and the Eid-el-Kabir break.
Akpabio did suggest that efforts were on to reduce the political fallout from the primary season for senators.
“And in this senate, we are promised that we will have very few disappointments. And I do know that the senate leader and the leadership of the senate are working very hard towards that,” he said.
In a statement issued on Saturday by special adviser on media and publicity,
Eseme Eyiboh, Akpabio described the reports as misleading.
The president of the senate said he neither made nor authorised any promise to secure tickets for senators affected by the outcome of the party’s primaries.
According to the statement, Akpabio merely expressed sympathy for senators who were adversely affected by the outcome of the exercise.
“What the President of the Senate actually said, in the course of interacting with his colleagues, was to empathize with senators who were affected negatively by the outcome of their primary elections,” the statement reads.
“He assured them that the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is actively working to address all issues arising from the primaries and that the final list of candidates will be released in due course in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines.”
The statement added that the Senate
President would not interfere in the internal processes of the APC or make commitments beyond the authority of the national assembly leadership.
Fourteen serving senators lost during the APC primaries across different states.
