By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka
Abuja
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has hailed Rtrd General Abdulsalami Abubakar for restoring democracy in 1999, saying members of the National and State Assemblies are major beneficiaries of former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s decision to hand over power to a civilian administration on May 29, 1999.
According to a statement signed by Jackson Udom, Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media, Akpabio made the remarks at the public presentation of three books in honour of the former head of state and his 84th birthday celebration.
The event held on Saturday at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja. It brought together top government officials, lawmakers, and political leaders.
“Your Excellency, on behalf of my colleagues, I thank you for that patriotic action and decision you took on May 29, 1999,” Akpabio said. “By that action, you restored democratic structures at both the National and State levels. We the lawmakers are major beneficiaries of that act of sacrifice in the last two decades.”
The Senate President revealed that his colleagues are awaiting Abdulsalami’s approval for a date to celebrate and honour him for his selflessness. He said the gesture was despite pressure from sycophants for the former head of state to extend his tenure.
“I salute your courage because you did not allow yourself to be misled by sycophants who urged you to extend your handover date by one year, six or three months,” Akpabio stated. “If you had changed your mind, nobody would have challenged you. But as a man of integrity with the fear of God, you kept your promise.”
Akpabio noted that Abdulsalami went on to install a democratically elected government with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as the first beneficiary of that decision. He described the podium as “too small” for the National and State Assemblies to properly eulogise the former leader.
The Senate President added that during military rule, the executive and judiciary remained intact while the legislature was always suspended. “That is why we have to celebrate you for restoring democracy in the shortest time,” he said.
Akpabio prayed that Abdulsalami would live to see many more decades. He thanked him for documenting his thoughts in a biography, saying Nigerians yet unborn would be grateful for what he did on that fateful day.
