Akpabio asks parties to stop dropping experienced lawmakers from Senate races

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has urged political parties to think twice before shutting out serving lawmakers from re-election bids, saying the habit drains the National Assembly of know-how it needs to make better laws.

He spoke on Thursday while praising Senator Francis Faduyile, a professor and former president of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), saying the lawmaker has the depth to add real value in the red chamber.

Akpabio's worry is simple: when a senator spends barely a year and is shown the door, the country loses skills that take time to build. He asked party leaders to weigh what lawmakers have done in legislation, not just political calculations, when handing out tickets.

He said it does not sit well for a senator to spend just one year in the chamber and then exit, and urged parties to look more closely at their choices, especially where capable people can help shape laws and national development.

Why it matters to ordinary Nigerians

For the average Nigerian, the argument is about the laws that shape daily life, from fuel prices and security to health and school funding. Akpabio said the calibre of laws passed largely decides how well government works.

He called this a weighty issue, noting that the standard of governance rises or falls with the standard of legislation, and asked how the country can be properly run without sound laws.

He insisted the Senate should not be handed out as a reward for political loyalty, saying the chamber is not a place where political favours are shared. The legislature, he added, must be treated as a core institution of democracy rather than a form of compensation.

Akpabio accepted that state-level politics often drives who gets a ticket, but said party leaders should still weigh the cost of losing lawmakers who have mastered the legislative process.

He pointed to Akwa Ibom State, where he said he thanked the governor for backing the return of three senators to the National Assembly. Keeping lawmakers in place, he argued, lifts the standard of debate and helps produce laws that tackle the country's problems.

To make his case, he looked abroad: former US Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia served 51 years, while former President Joe Biden represented Delaware in the Senate from 1973 to 2009. Akpabio described that as the kind of experience he means.

He also welcomed the buzz on social media over the Senate's recent debate on decriminalising suicide, saying it shows Nigerians are watching what their representatives do. That attention, he said, should push senators to raise their game.

He urged his colleagues to keep working through their committees on pending matters.