The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has advised second-term governors to be circumspect in selecting their successors.

According to the Senate president, governors who settle for successors simply because they kneel before them might be setting themselves up for betrayal when they finally leave office.

The ex-Akwa Ibom State Governor stated this yesterday at the inauguration of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway’s first 30 kilometres in the Lekki area.

Akpabio stressed the place of vision in leadership, urging second-term governors, especially those in the All Progressives Congress (APC), to prioritise visionary leadership over patronising loyalty.

The event was attended by President Bola Tinubu; Works Minister Dave Umahi, as well as second-term governors including Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos).

Akpabio said: “We have a president who has both sight and vision. And this, for me, is something I must advise our governors, particularly those of them who are in their second term. Do not give power to anybody who is not looking for power.

“Don’t give power to anybody who is not prepared. Don’t go hiding in your heart that ‘this boy is very subservient; he is always kneeling when he is talking to me, and his wife is always rolling on the floor. I think I should make this one the governor.’

“If you do that, you are giving power to somebody who is not prepared for governance, and they will disappoint you. This is where betrayals normally start. I am just trying to give some advice.

“For the progressive governors, I believe that all of you are doing well because you are being led by a man who has both sight and vision.”