ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Senate President Godswill Akpabio has urged second-term governors to apply caution when choosing their successors, warning against selecting candidates solely based on acts of patronising loyalty.
Speaking on Saturday during the commissioning of the first 30 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in the Lekki area of Lagos, Akpabio emphasized the importance of visionary leadership in governance.
According to Channels TV, he advised governors, particularly those in the All Progressives Congress (APC), to prioritise competence and vision over superficial displays of loyalty.
“We have a president who has both sight and vision. And this for me is something I must advise our governors, particularly those of them who are in their second term.
“Do not give power to anybody who is not looking for power. Don’t give power to anybody who is not prepared. 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, I think I should make this one the governor.
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“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.
“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”, Akpabio said.
The event was attended by President Bola Tinubu, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Minister of Finance Wale Edun, Minister of Works Dave Umahi, and several second-term governors including Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos).
Akpabio’s comments come in the context of Nigeria’s political culture, where godfatherism continues to influence leadership transitions.
Outgoing governors often attempt to impose their preferred successors, a practice critics see as a way to maintain power indirectly after completing their constitutionally permitted two-term limit.