A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Timi Frank has cautioned the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, against provoking a Kenyan-style uprising in the country through his highly condescending and degrading comments.
Frank gave this warning in a statement issued Monday while reacting to Akpabio’s recent comments where he said parliament’s anticipatory approval to President Bola Tinubu for a new presidential aircraft worth billions of Naira.
He said one of the cardinal roles of the parliament is to serve as a check and balance on the other arms of government, saying Akpabio has derailed by deciding on and goading the executive on what expenditure to make irrespective of the economic plight of taxpayers.
Frank said, “His effrontery and audacity in turning legislative procedures upside down notwithstanding, his verbiage at times rudely assaults our democracy, denigrates Nigerians as a public official in a position of trust and a mockery of the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.
“Akpabio can choose to be President Bola Tinubu’s cheerleader, praise singer and errand boy but he must not reduce the National Assembly to an organ extending anticipatory approvals for requests yet to be made by the executive and justifying the same.
“Akpabio must learn to limit his actions to those within the ambit of his constitutional role by ensuring diligent scrutiny of money bills before the Senate to prevent profligacy and waste and equally refrain from talking down on Nigerians and taxpayers who own the office he now occupies.”
Frank stressed that the age of an aircraft does not necessarily determine its safety or airworthiness, adding that Aircraft are subject to regular maintenance and inspections to ensure they are safe to operate, regardless of their age.
According to him, ”So the question is, what happened to the about N214 billion allocated in annual budgets for maintenance of the Presidential Fleet from 1999 till date?
Frank wondered why Akpabio couldn’t Akpabio launch an investigation into how the N214 billion was spent or recommend that some of the aircraft or helicopters be sold to augment the cost of buying new ones instead of waiting for a hefty proposal from the executive for express approval.
“Above all, he must be mindful of the uprising in Senegal that led to the election of 44 years youthful opposition, Bassirou Diomaye Faye and the ongoing one in Kenya where the youths invaded the parliament to stop lawmakers from considering an anti-people Finance Bill and the attendant killings of scores by security forces which has sparked a call for President William Ruto’s resignation despite his hasty withdrawal of the Bill.”