Godswill Akpabio, the 10th Senate President of Nigeria, has assured that his tenure will ensure the emergence of more women in the red chambers.
The Senate President noted that it would be good to have more women in the 11th Senate but quickly jokingly added that he is not willing to let go of his seat by saying “but not my seat.”
Akpabio, while giving his first speech as president of the 10th senate, congratulated all the lawmakers who made it through 2023 elections.
He said: “Today marks a historic moment for all of us as we embark on a new chapter in the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He further congratulated members elected in the 10th Senate for surviving what he called “cashless election.”
Akpabio said: “In some states, we had tsunamis and in others we have some of our colleagues returning. About 30 returned while about 79 came in fresh, I want to say once again, congratulations.”
The senate president, however, vowed that the 10th senate will pay attention to the problem of insecurities and persons with disabilities.
Akpabio said the 10th Senate will “expand legislation to improve the revenue stream in the country.”
He added that “Our current president has a track record in that area, when he became the governor of Lagos in 1999, Lagos was not getting more than N600 million but today with what he puts in place, Lagos is getting to N50 to N61 billion every month as IGR. Nigeria can do so, we can improve the revenue so we tackle debts that we have all over the place.
“The president has already said that Nigerians must produce what we consume and consume what we produces and therefore, we will do everything to assist him to make sure that dream becomes a reality for the prosperity of this great nation.
“So we must tackle issues that relates to new sources of revenue, we shall have a seriously forward looking senate that will emphasize on economic viability, social acceptability and tackling environmental issues and then bring about sustainable growth. We must therefore as body rise to partner the government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to provide the required legislative framework and legal environment for him to anchor the policies and programs he has for the country. Like he (Tinubu) says elections are over, governance as started and for the tenth senate, we are going to hit the ground running.”
Akpabio also commended President Bola Tinubu for removal of subsidy.
He noted that the action of the president will make it possible to raise money for infrastructures that will benefit all Nigerians.
