Senator Godswill Akpabio isn’t bothered about the fact that his party’s criteria for the Senate Minority Leadership rules him out of the contest.

The former Akwa Ibom governor insists that all senators in the National Assembly are equal and his is capable enough to do the job.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, had listed some criteria on behalf of members of the National Working Committee of the party, which includes; ranking, region and gender among such criteria.

Despite the fact that the party zoned the position of Senate Minority Leader to the South-South, where Akpabio hails from, he is disqualified by being a first timer in the Senate.

He is however, insistent on being interested in the job.

Akpabio went for a meeting with the members of the NWC in Abuja on Wednesday evening, and afterwards, he said: “I came (to see the NWC members) in my usual consultation with the party on national issues.

“(Interest in minority leader position) It is not a question of interest, it is a question of capacity. So if I have the capacity, my colleagues will decide.

“In the Senate, everybody is equal but some have been there for a long time like the ranking senators and all that. So, when you have the opportunity to be in the red chamber, you have equal rights to aspire to any position but you first have to be sure that your colleagues will be interested in you.

“If my name has been mentioned, probably by my colleagues, and I consult, and at the end of my consultations with stakeholders of our party across the nation, I will be able to make appropriate statement.”

Kolapo Olapoju