By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said the South-South geopolitical zone produced the highest number of votes to elect President Bola Tinubu among the three zones in Southern Nigeria.
He said the votes cast for the President in Akwa Ibom State alone, were higher than all the votes recorded for him in the entire South-East geopolitical zone.
Akpabio stated this when the All Progressives Congress leaders in the South-South geopolitical zone paid him a courtesy visit over the weekend.
He said the APC would ensure that the South-South is governed by the governors elected under its platform by the time the 2027 elections had been held.
He said, “Akwa Ibom was able to deliver almost 800, 000 votes. The votes from Akwa Ibom alone for the APC in the presidential election were more than the total votes from the five states of the South-East.
“When David Lyon contested in Bayelsa State, he won resoundingly but he was not sworn in, that happened a day before swearing in and even this last one that Timipre Sylva contested we also did very well and we are now in court so I cannot comment of that.
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“That shows you the strength of the APC in the region and even when the Peoples Democratic Party is the ruling party in Rivers State, we were able to win Rivers State. Data cannot lie.
“I want to say that with that giant step now that we have a senate President, I don’t see any reason why the entirety of the South-South region will not become APC.
“The only way we can pay back the national leader of our party, the only way we can show the President to standing by us in the South-South to produce a Senate President after 45years is for us to make sure that in 2027 we will give him and the entire APC resounding victory in the 6 States of the South-South region.
“We are steadily moving on, Cross Rivers State is 100 per cent APC. Here and there some people will emerge either in the Senate or the reps and the House of Assembly, but in the governorship and government of the state is APC.
“Akwa Ibom has the Senate President, so for you have members of the House of Representatives it shows that things are about to happen.
“For you to have won the presidential election in Rivers State where the Zonal chairman comes from means things are beginning to happen and even winning in 2019 the Bayelsa State except for technical issues in the court shows clearly that APC has come to stay in the entire South-South.
Edo State the APC governor took the government house into another party and so the election is coming next year, as will expect the chairman to double his effort with all of us included in the campaign and ensure we get back what belongs to us.
“On our part, we are working across party lines to support President Tinubu, all the senators of the South-South are determined to give him support so that he can succeed irrespective of party affiliation and that is a good sign.”
