Senate President’s Office debunks reports of ‘eating while protesting’ comment

The Communications and Strategy Office of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, issued a statement refuting media reports that Akpabio said he would be “eating while protesters are protesting”.
The consultant in charge of the office, Sir Kenny Okolugbo described the reports as “uncharitable” and motivated to bring Akpabio into conflict with the Nigerian masses.
According to Okolugbo, Akpabio was quoting the Managing Director of the NDDC, who stated that Niger Delta youths have never had it so good under the current leadership and would not be interested in regime change. Instead, they would “own the government” and be focused on benefiting from it.
Okolugbo clarified that Akpabio’s statement was part of a larger message urging the people of the Niger Delta to exercise patience with the Tinubu administration, acknowledging that there is hunger in the land. He emphasized that Akpabio, as the most senior government official from the region, understands their pain and is advocating for calm.
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Okolugbo noted that Akpabio never said “he and others will be EATING while the protesters will be PROTESTING”.
He described the report as uncharitable, saying that its motive was to bring Akpabio in conflict with the Nigerian masses.
Explaining further, Okolugbo opined: “He was only quoting the MD of the NDDC that said the Niger Delta Youths have never had it so good with himself and the Amnesty boss on the saddle that it was a government of the Youths who will not be interested in regime change rather will own the GOVERNMENT and will not protest but rather be eating.
“The import of his visit was a declaration that the nine states of the Niger Delta will not be involved in any protest being the most senior government official from that region he feels their pain and that there is hunger in the land.
“The people of the Niger Delta have been urged to exercise patience with the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. That one year is not enough to judge the performance of the administration.”
The statement aimed to set the record straight and dispel any misconceptions about Akpabio’s comments, which were allegedly taken out of context to create a negative narrative.
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