Our Old Boys Now Running Executive Arm, We Must Support Them — Akpabio

Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, says the lawmakers will cooperate with the executive because the government is now being run by the “old boys” of the National Assembly.

Akpabio said since both President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are alumni of the National Assembly, the lawmakers will have no reason not to support them.

He stated this on Wednesday during the 2024 budget presentation by President Tinubu.

“Maintaining a cordial relationship with the Executive Arm has always been a requirement of the law but now, given that our Old Boys now run the Executive, a good relationship with the Executive is a must,” he said.

Akpabio said it took the US over 180 years to have senators occupying the seats of President and Vice President, however, Nigeria has achieved that in 25 years of democracy.

“Mr President, the United States has been a democracy for 247 years. But it was only when it marked the 185th Anniversary that it succeeded in producing two former senators (J F Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson) as President and Vice President respectively. But within 24 years of our democracy, we have achieved what took the USA 185 years to achieve,” he said.

President Tinubu served in the Senate in the Third Republic.