By Opeyemi Adelakun
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed a reference to him as a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that his political allegiance had never truly been with the party.
Akpabio made the remark on Tuesday during Senate plenary while lawmakers considered a motion in honour of Ibrahim Idris, the late former governor of Kogi State.
The motion was sponsored by Senator Jibrin Isah, representing Kogi East, who recalled that Idris was a PDP member and referred to Akpabio as one of those who were also in the party at the time.
“The late Ibrahim Idris was a member of the PDP; I was there while you were there too, all of us were there,” Isah said.
Akpabio immediately interrupted the senator, rejecting the description of him as a PDP member.
“I was never in PDP. My spirit might be there, but my heart was never there. I have always been a progressive,” he said.
Akpabio’s comment came against the backdrop of his long political career under the PDP before his eventual defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He served as governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015 and was chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum during his tenure. He subsequently won election to the Senate in 2015 on the PDP platform and became Senate Minority Leader.
In August 2018, Akpabio resigned as Senate Minority Leader and formally defected from the PDP to the APC. At the time, he publicly declared, “I’m now a progressive.”
His latest statement therefore drew attention during the Senate debate, particularly because his political career included senior positions held under the PDP before his move to the APC.
The Senate subsequently considered and passed the motion honouring the late Ibrahim Idris and observed a minute’s silence in his memory.
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