Chrys
Senator representing Ekiti
Central Senatorial District and the Deputy Director-General of the
Akpabio/Barau campaign, Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi, on Tuesday revealed
that Senators in the camp of the now Senate President, Godswill Akpabio made it
to the National Assembly complex as early as 4 a.m. to avert a repeat of the
2015 confused election that produced Senator Olubukola Saraki as Senate
President.
The Ekiti lawmaker made this
known at a reception organized in his honour after being sworn-in, stating that
in 2015, senators loyal to the former Senate President, kept vigil in the
National Assembly Complex with a plan to install Saraki, while other lawmakers
who opposed him at that time didn’t know and proceeded to the International
Conference Centre for an engagement with the former President Muhammadu Buhari,
only for the election to have taken place with Saraki as President of the
Senate.
According to him, things became
so unclear that those at the forefront of the campaign for Akpabio could not
sleep in the last 48 hours, adding that the immediate past Senate President,
Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, had to intervene.
“We entered the National Assembly
Complex around 4 a.m. in order to avert what happened in 2015. The victory
wouldn’t have been possible if not for the efforts of the immediate past Senate
President.
Meanwhile, immediate past Senate
President described Bamidele as the pillar of the ninth Senate, commending him
for his contributions to nation building. He added that the Ekiti lawmaker has
handled cases for his office in the last four years successfully.
Lawan said: “We have become a
family as we continue another four years in the Senate and beyond.”
Other prominent personalities at
the reception are Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, Adebayo Adewole, Oluyin of Iyin Ekiti,
Ajakaye among others.
Opeyemi thanked the royal fathers
that came from the Ekiti Central Senatorial districts for their presence at the
reception.
