Omeiza Ajayi
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has blamed the failure of some National Assembly members to secure return tickets during political party primaries on a lack of proper grassroots preparation, revealing that many of his colleagues are currently battling hypertension over their political survival.
Akpabio made this known on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress APC National Campaign Council for the upcoming June 20, 2026, Ekiti State Governorship Election.
The Senate President, who urged lawmakers to stop relying on his intervention after losing elections on the ground, maintained that party supremacy must be upheld.
“I am only pleading with the party that when they bring out their final list, then they need to show that they are carrying all of us along. Some of my people are having hypertension,” Akpabio stated, adding that while the President and state governors retain their constitutional rights to make political choices, lawmakers must always do their homework before facing the electorate.
“When anybody has lost the election on the ground, please don’t expect me, as Chairman of the National Assembly, to come and plead with you (Party leadership) to put the person on the list. It simply means the person has lost. So, I want to congratulate those who won the primaries, and then plead with my colleagues, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, that you should have done your homework well before going for the primaries,” Akpabio declared.
Speaking at the same event, the Governor of Kaduna State and Chairman of the Ekiti State National Campaign Council, Senator Uba Sani, described the forthcoming election as a referendum on the performance of the incumbent Governor, Biodun Oyebanji.
Sani disclosed that the ruling party has set an ambitious but achievable target to secure over 500,000 votes for the governor, aiming to double the 187,557 votes recorded during the 2022 election.
“Our goal for the upcoming election is ambitious yet achievable. We are targeting an increase of over 100 per cent in the number of votes for Governor Oyebanji, and a margin of no less than 500,000 votes over his closest rival. This is not just a numerical target; it symbolizes our commitment to ensuring that the voice of the people is amplified and their trust in good governance is rewarded,” the Kaduna governor said.
He noted that the campaign council has already established effective structures across all 16 local government areas and 177 wards in Ekiti State to drive grassroots mobilization, adding that Governor Oyebanji’s second-term bid has received an unprecedented boost through endorsements from all living former governors of the state, regardless of their political affiliations.
Sani further commended the progressive reforms of the party leadership and President Bola Tinubu, which he said have empowered sub-national entities like Ekiti State to flourish.
He added that the 500,000 votes targeted in Ekiti would serve as a direct political repayment to President Tinubu for his administration’s massive support to all state governors across the federation.
