President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has sought divine intervention for an end to banditry and terrorism in Nigeria, as well as the peaceful conduct of the 2027 general elections.

Akpabio made the call when he visited the Prayer Ground of St. Padre Pio at St. Giovanni Rotondo in Italy, where he said he had gone to offer prayers for Nigeria, his family and the country’s future.

Speaking to St. Padre Pio TV/Radio in Italy, Akpabio said: “We are all from Nigeria. We came to offer prayers and get blessings from God for ourselves, families and our dear country that is currently being ravaged by banditry and terrorism.

“We are here on this prayer ground and we are going home fulfilled, that we were able to touch this Holy ground, drop our intentions which he will take to God on our behalf.”
In statement by the Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media, Jackson Udom, the Senate President described the prayer ground as holy stating he was impressed by how well it had been maintained, adding that adherents of St. Padre Pio believed in his intercession.
Akpabio also recalled what he described as a miraculous recovery by his wife, Unoma, after she was critically ill in a German hospital.

“My wife was in a comma for six months in a hospital in Germany. She was 98 percent dead. I used the picture of PIO to make a sign of the cross on her, instead of putting-off the life-support machine she was on. She had an operation that went wrong. I cried to Mother Mary; the mother of Jesus Christ and called on PIO to interceed.

“Miraculously, she woke up. That hospital, uptill today, is yet to understand what happened. As someone who has experienced the powers in where I am standing, I can understand it more than anyone else,” he said.

Akpabio said the visit was his 10th to the prayer ground, adding that he and his family were there to give thanks to God and appreciate St. Padre Pio for his intercession.
He said: “When my wife was finally discharged from the hospital, she waited for three months before she could remember my name and those of the children. We are here today, to give thanks to God and to thank PIO for always interceeding for us.

“We honored PIO by giving our son the baptismal name; PIO. We equally established a big academy which we called PIO Football Academy, where we train and offer scholarships to children of the poor from 9 years up to university level, all in memory of PIO. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”