Political pundits are predicting that Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, will sweat over his likely bid for re-election in the 2027 general elections.
Akpabio has been embroiled in unending controversies that have trailed his political life before and after he emerged as the 15th president of the Nigerian Senate.
And being the leader of the 10th National Assembly whom many Nigerians have accused of being a “rubber stamp” for the executive, it will take a miracle for the former Akwa Ibom State Governor to retain his seat in the Senate, let alone holding a gavel once again in 2027.
Akpabio is, however, no stranger to controversy. Despite his woes, the 62-year-old has so far managed to remain in the top tier of leadership positions in Nigeria because his supporters consider him to be a “team player.”
According to these cheerleaders, Akpabio is an “uncommon Senator” who carries everyone along and ensures that those around him are well taken care of. To analysts, however, the former Niger Delta Affairs Minister’s free-spirited nature is his greatest weakness, and this situation has compelled his loyalists to advise him to start showing a different side to his public persona.
Akpabio came to national limelight in 2007 when he, against all odds, clinched the governorship seat of his state. It was a victory made possible by the unusual support his people gave him when he was still a dark horse in the People’s Democratic Party.
The solidarity shown to Akpabio was a big deal because his predecessor and former boss, Victor Attah, wanted his son-in-law, Udoma Ekarika, to succeed him as governor.
But a defiant Akpabio, a Commissioner in Attah’s government who served in three key ministries, viz. Petroleum and Natural Resources, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, as well as Lands and Housing, was also eyeing the juicy governorship seat.
And thanks to Akwa Ibomites, who were as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, Akpabio was able to outmaneuver Attah and his anointed candidate, Ekarika. He also became the people’s postal boy for perseverance and defiance against “godfatherism”.
So, buoyed up by his people, Akpabio went on to win the PDP primary in the state. He later defeated rivals in other parties to win the governorship election proper and like a bolt from the blue, the Akpabio era began in Akwa Ibom State.
In 2014, a year before Akpabio’s second term in office ended, Attah said his biggest regret was leaving office with a successor but without a succession, as he humorously put it.
Attah’s criticism and the common notion in Nigeria that former governors usually use the Senate as their retirement home, did not stop Akpabio’s election in 2015 as the senator that represented Akwa Ibom North West in the National Assembly.
In 2018, Akpabio stunned many Nigerians, including those in his political base, when he defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress. It was a defection that shook the very core of the PDP in the South South, and the party seems not to have recovered from it.
“His people are tired already. Which people will not be worried that someone representing them in the Senate is like honey that attracts bees, but trouble in this instance?”
Akpabio’s excuse was that he was enamoured with immediate past president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari’s “sincerity” in handling the affairs of Nigeria.
Akpabio also said he wasn’t comfortable with the way those who brought Buhari to power were attempting to abandon and derail him. According to Akpabio, he couldn’t stand it.
The Senate President also preached selflessness to other discontented politicians as he justified his own defection.
He said, “You mustn’t continue to think of your personal interest alone.
“Whether you are happy or not with the people in government, you must think of Nigeria, that is why I said no, I must step out and join this president to continue to move this country forward because I know he is doing a great job for the country.”
A year later, during the 2019 general elections, Akpabio lost re-election into the Senate, but analysts argue that Buhari “compensated” him for the loss by nominating him as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
In 2023, Akpabio contested again for a seat in the Senate and won. Bolstered by the President’s blessings, he beat lone challenger and former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, to the no. 3 position in Nigeria.
Bizarrely, Akpabio’s office has since then been inundated with one controversy or the other himself.
To his credit, Akpabio is lauded for the humour he wittingly injects into discourses, especially during plenary sessions.
On the flip side, however, he has been accused on multiple occasions of making insensitive comments over serious national issues.
There are many unforgettable Akpabio moments, especially in the Senate, but analysts say that the hasty retreat he beat in 2024 after blurting out to fellow senators on live television that money had been sent to their respective bank accounts to enable them enjoy their holiday, sticks out as a sore thumb the most.
After Akpabio was informed that he had committed an embarrassing gaffe, he recanted, saying that prayers, instead, had been sent to the senators’ mailboxes.
Notwithstanding Akpabio’s exercise in damage control, he became the butt of criticism from Nigerians and his image took a dent following that awkward moment.
The Senate President’s “fight” with another Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is also a shadow looming over his re-election bid in 2027.
Natasha, the now suspended Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, alleged that Akpabio sexually harassed her, and the weight of the accusation will continue to crush Akpabio until the courts pass their verdict on the matter.
To make matter worse, Akpabio’s beef with Akpoti-Uduaghan has brought to the fore past sexual assault allegations levelled against him – a situation that made former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to disclose that Akpabio had abused women when he was in office as governor.
Not just this, past corruption allegations against the Senate President have also resurfaced. They have been making the headlines and accelerating the bashing of Akpabio’s status as a politician.
The general consensus now among Nigerians is that except his people in Akwa Ibom State come to his rescue – like they did when former Governor Attah was trying to clip his wings – Akpabio would kiss the Senate goodbye in 2027.
A political analyst, Damion Ugorji, said that Akpabio’s return to the Senate would depend largely on the opinion Akwa Ibomites have of him and his “countless” controversies.
In Ugorji’s assessment, Akpabio is a grassroots politician who can sway his people with his charm and take care of them in the best way possible.
“The question about Akpabio’s fate in the Senate in 2027 is very easy to answer. It is easy to answer because Akpabio’s destiny in the Senate in 2027 will depend on his people.
“It will also depend largely on the opinion Akwa Ibomites have of him and his countless controversies.
“Akpabio is an influential politician in his state. He has a solid structure there that makes him a grassroots politician that can sway his people with his charm.
“And most importantly, he knows how to take care of them in the best way possible.”
Asked to shed light on how Akpabio takes care of his people, Ugorji curtly replied, “We all know how politicians take care of their constituents, don’t we?”
A current affairs analyst, Collins Ubawuchi, however, told The Point, “The Senate President will find it difficult to return to the Senate in 2027.
“I have a hunch that all his troubles and controversies will find him out in 2027.
“His people are tired already. Which people will not be worried that someone representing them in the Senate is like honey that attracts bees, but trouble in this instance?
“The only bet I can place on Akpabio now is that he will be compensated, just like Buhari did for him in 2019, with a ministerial portfolio after his re-election bid fails.
“And I hope that when he becomes a minister then, he will start to take national business more seriously. He should also, in my opinion, do away with that annoying smile on his face we have come to know him for.”
