Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has debunked claims by Senator Elisha Abbo that he influenced the judgement of the Court of Appeal that sacked the lawmaker from the Senate.

The Star had reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Monday, October 16, 2023, sacked Abbo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing Adamawa North Senatorial District.

The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a Certificate of Return to Rev. Amos Yohanna of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the validly elected lawmaker for the senatorial district.

Speaking to journalists at his residence in Abuja on Monday, Abbo alleged that Akpabio had a hand in the court judgement against him.

He added that the Senate President had penciled down four other senators for removal through the court.

The lawmaker said: “I have it from a reliable source and a very highly placed one for that matter, that myself and four other senators within the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would be removed from the Senate through rulings from the courts, all because of working against emergence of Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate.

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“I won’t mention the names of all the four other ones targeted but the next in line is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.”

Reacting to the allegation, Akpabio, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Eseme Eyiboh, on Tuesday, October 17, described Abbo’s claims as “delinquent, provocative, and unbecoming of a Distinguished Senator”.

Eyiboh stated: “It is only a diseased and uninformed mind that will not believe that the outcome of any court proceeding is a function of the evaluation of facts and evidence within the province of the rule of law.

“It is uncharitable for Senator Abbo to pour his frustrations on Senator Akpabio or anyone else and his action betrays the bile he has for Senator Akpabio.

“Democracy is founded in the rule of law, so for anybody to accuse one of the strong agents of democracy and governance in the mould of Senator Godswill Akpabio, such an individual must be a monument of self-pity and his swansong a discordant escape from reality.

“Senator Akpabio for emphasis has no ill-will towards any of his distinguished colleagues and as he has said in the past, the embers of the leadership election have been buried and replaced by the fraternal bond of nation-building he shares with the overwhelming majority of senators.”

The Star