By Erasmus Ikhide
THE tragic theater of Nigerian politics has long been populated by characters of questionable virtue, but rarely has it witnessed a performance as macabre and morally hollow as that of the current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
In a display of chilling callousness that can only be described as dancing on the fresh graves of terrorism victims, Akpabio recently unveiled the true, dark heart of the ruling elite’s strategy: the admission that the slaughter of Nigerians is a mere political variable, scheduled to continue as a “distraction” until the 2027 general elections.
*A Death Sentence as Political Analysis*
At the commissioning of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) headquarters—a billion-naira monument to tax extraction amidst national starvation—Akpabio casually prophesied that the “bomb blasts” and bloodshed would persist for another year, only to miraculously vanish two weeks after the 2027 polls.
To frame the agonizing deaths of Nigerians as a tactical political maneuver by the opposition is not just “misguided”—it is the language of a terrorist enabler.
By suggesting that security is a switch to be flipped only after power is secured, Akpabio has effectively issued a death sentence to the hundreds of citizens who will inevitably fall to bandits and insurgents between now and his 2027 deadline.
If the Senate President knows who is “sponsoring” this carnage to “distract” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his failure to demand their immediate arrest makes him a co-conspirator in the liquidation of the Nigerian state.
The Pedigree of a Moral Pervert
We must ask: what manner of man finds it comfortable to treat national grief as an electoral anecdote? The answer lies in a career built on the shifting sands of uncommon scandals. Akpabio remains a man unpurged of the litany of corruption allegations that trailed his tenure as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and his oversight of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Beyond the financial pillaging of the commonwealth, there is the stench of moral decay. From the harrowing accusations of sexual harassment leveled by Joy Nunieh to the more recent, high-profile allegations by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Akpabio has emerged as the poster child for a predatory political class.
Instead of a dignified defense, he has overseen a legislative chamber that functions as a “boys’ club,” where dissent is silenced by suspension and female colleagues are subjected to what many view as institutionalized bullying.
Tinubu’s Hireling and the Draconian Grid
Akpabio does not act in a vacuum. He is the ultimate hireling, the legislative enforcer for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Under his leadership, the Senate has become a rubber stamp for draconian policies that tighten the noose around the necks of the poor while shielding the excesses of the powerful.
The APC’s history with security has always been transactional. The party that reportedly courted various elements to seize power in 2015 now finds itself unable—or unwilling—to protect the people from the monsters it helped create. Akpabio’s statement is a Freudian slip that reveals the party’s true stance: human lives are the currency spent to maintain their political survival.
The Dead End of Dying Oligarchs
Nigeria is a nation on the throes of death, gasping for air while its leaders celebrate revenue service buildings and mock the opposition. Akpabio’s latest outburst is the final nail in the coffin of the APC’s pretension to governance.
When a Senate President tells a grieving nation to be “patient” with terrorism until the next ballot box is stuffed, he is no longer a statesman; he is a threat to the democratic ethos he was sworn to protect. The graves of the victims are not a stage for political mockery, and the blood of the innocent is not a “distraction”—it is a testament to the absolute failure of a leadership that has lost its soul.
Nigerians must now realize that in the eyes of Godswill Akpabio and his principals, security is not a right; it is a hostage held for ransom until 2027.
Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio still has apple time to return to his altruistic former self as one of the Nigerian best-performed Governor in Akwa Ibom State, regardless of his ‘new found notoriety’.
Erasmus Ikhide contributed this piece via: ikhideluckyerasmus@gmail.com