By PATRICK WEMAMBU,
Sometimes politics resembles one of the weirder branches of modern physics or a fantasy version of biology. Time may seem to run backwards; solid things turn out to be insubstantial; black holes swallow up the light; the dead may walk the Earth. Ghouls crawl out of cleft rocks, velociraptors not only reappear but learn to speak and alarmingly, open doors. That was how Eliot A. Cohen described the scenario in his treatise ‘Trump Can’t Escape the Laws of Political Gravity’ published in The Atlantic
January 27, 2025.
Dogged by controversies with calls for and against his stepping down from the exalted Office of the Senate President by both pundits and supporters, one might be tempted to postulate that Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio is in the eye of the storm. Like Trump, like Akpabio? Casting the first stone – in a manner of speaking – Olu Fasan in a piece he authored titled ‘Nigeria is diminished with Akpabio as Senate President,’ published in The Vanguard newspaper April 10, 2025, lectured;
“The strength and viability of any country’s democracy depend, to a very large extent, on the strength and quality of the legislative branch of its government. This is because it falls solely to the legislature to make the laws upon which a country is governed, to shape government policies, and to oversee the executive branch.
“Thus, as one scholar puts it, the legislature is a ‘driving force in government’ and the ‘heart and soul of a democracy’. But the nub of the matter is the fundamental principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.
“Under those principles, each of the three branches of government – Executive, Legislature and Judiciary – has a separate sphere of authority but also the power to check other branches. Democracy atrophies, government dysfunctions, and abuse of power prevails in any country where there are no effective separation of powers and checks and balances.
“Unfortunately, Nigeria lacks effective separation of powers. Instead, there’s a fusion of powers, because the Executive branch has colonised the Legislative and Judicial branches. The National Assembly is a rubber stamp that endorses and legitimises the illegal and unconstitutional acts of the Executive, while the Judiciary overrides explicit constitutional provisions and adopts an expansive interpretation to give a ruling that the Executive wants, as the Supreme Court did in the so-called local government autonomy case, where it turned the Constitution and the principle of federalism on their heads by adopting, in its own words, ‘a progressive interpretation of the law.’
“Yet, no democracy can thrive without judicial independence and legislative independence. Sadly, neither exists in Nigeria!”
Leaving aside the acute institutional failure, the writer lamented that there are also acute moral and leadership failures. Maintaining that since Akpabio became the Senate President in 2023, he has demonstrated leadership without responsibility and accountability – he opined that through his ‘constant indiscretions, verbal incontinence and egotistical behaviour,’ Akpabio has brought the Office of Senate President and the institution of the Senate itself into disrepute.
“To be sure, if Nigeria were a country where integrity is a criterion for political leadership, Akpabio would never be Senate President. But throughout his political career, he has acted with impunity, avoided accountability and, yet, reached top national positions because of his political usefulness to the powers that be,” the pundit rationalized.
Reminiscing on his journey to the Senate presidency, Fasan highlighted the trajectory of the former two-term governor and later Senate Minority Leader under the PDP, who defected to the APC in August 2018. After helping Buhari to win more votes than he did in 2015 in Akwa-Ibom State and across the South-South, the reader is informed Akpabio was rewarded with a ministerial position, as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. He reeled on and on until his take on the controversial senatorial elections.
Perhaps throwing their weight behind Fasan, 56 CSOs have asked Akpabio to resign amid the Court Verdict On 2019 Elections. Yet, a coalition of civil society organisations and political support groups has declared its unwavering support for Senate President Godswill Akpabio, dismissing the recent allegations of sexual harassment against him as politically motivated.
In a resounding show of solidarity, the coalition passed a vote of confidence in Akpabio, maintaining that his leadership remains crucial for legislative stability. Meanwhile – interestingly enough, in the midst of the calls for his resignation – Akpabio has said he will not step down. “I am not one of those who step down for what is false and when eventually it is proven that the allegation is untrue, they simply say oh, as if it makes up for it,” he told his colleagues during plenary last Thursday in the Red Chamber.
And the question arises, how does Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio defy the laws of political gravity? These includes a situation where a politician suffers a major upheaval/set back in career following a low approval rating. Political juggernauts have pointed to what they describe as some of the selling points of Akpabio. His personality traits that make him successful in politics. Kiran V in a piece titled Political Marketing published Jun 16, 2020 alluded to such features as being charismatic, confident and persuasive. Determination is also mentioned as an important factor with insightfulness and ambitious drive.
Long story short, will Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio continue to succeed in navigating the laws of political gravity? Only time will tell as he pilots the affairs of the Upper House after reconvening for its 137th session last week. Essentially, the ranking parliamentarian will need to fall back on mother luck and his personality traits towards parrying criticisms – especially those considered unconstructive with a view to prosecuting the Legislative Agenda of the Senate. These include introduction of new bills, presentation of Committee reports and deliberations on pressing national issues.
PATRICK WEMAMBU, is Ag. Editor, The Daily Times Newspaper. He can be reached through p.wemambu@ dailytimesng.com
