No leakage of presidential communication to Senate since 2023 – Akpabio

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Obot Akpabio, on Thursday revealed that the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not faced challenges of leakage of presidential communication to the Senate since 2023.

He stated this to highlight the exemplary service of commitment of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Senator Basheer Lado, saying that things have changed since he was appointed into that office.

Akpabio stated this when he paid a visit to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President, stressing that the office is occupied based on trust and confidence of both the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.

Akpabio commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Basheer Lado from Kano as Special Adviser and for recognizing the duo of Senator Jibrin Barau, Deputy Senate President, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, Chairman of the APC who are all Kano indigenes, noting that their involvement in this administration was strategic to winning Kano for APC in 2027 general election.

He said: “With Lado, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano is already in the kitty of APC ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Let me put on record that since Senator Lado's assumption of office as Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on National Assembly (Senate Matters), we have not had a single leakage of private communication between the presidency and the Senate.

“We have not had a single incidence of leakage. Because in government, that's what we call the right to know. The right to know. And then of course, where government business is done, on pages of newspapers and on social media through leakages of information, it negatively rubs on national security.

“So I want to thank you for upholding the tenets of what the government should be, what separation of powers is all about.”

According to the Senate President, Basheer Lado, who was also a former Senator, had strengthened the executive-legislature relationship in the last eight months of his appointment, which had made their debate robust as he normally compiled bills assented by President Tinibu before bringing them to the attention of the legislature.

He said: “You are no doubt, a man of colour, man of excellence, man of style who stepped into an office and transformed it for better result delivery as it is clearly with the way you keep track on all the bills passed by us and those assented to by the President.”

In his speech of welcome, Senator Lado assured the President of the Senate that with him, he had found a dependable ally and a statesman who understands the delicate art of governance and the importance of cooperation rather than confrontation.

He said: “Mr. Senate President, your presence here is not only symbolic of the harmony between the Executive and the Legislature, it is a testament to the power of unity, the strength of shared vision, and the boundless possibilities when leadership is anchored on service.”