I was in the wrong party called PDP — Akpabio

‎President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Friday said he had been in the “wrong party” during his time in the Peoples Democratic Party, maintaining that he found his political home after defecting to the All Progressives Congress.

‎Akpabio made the remarks during the inauguration of access roads to the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates in the Karsana District of the Federal Capital Territory to mark President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office.

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‎Responding to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who had described him as an “uncommon performer” during his days in the PDP, Akpabio urged members of the APC National Working Committee to disregard the comment, saying it referred to a period before the APC was formed.

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‎“Please ignore the comment of the honourable minister that I was an uncommon performer in PDP. He is not talking about PDP of today,” Akpabio said.

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‎Explaining his political journey, the Senate President said he had already spent more than seven years as governor of Akwa Ibom State before the APC was founded in 2014.

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‎“A progressive-minded person like me should belong to a progressive family. And therefore, when APC came to be, I discovered that that was my group, that I was in the wrong party called PDP. So I took my exit early and joined the progressives,” he said.

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‎Akpabio argued that the PDP had since become fragmented, adding that he recognised Wike as the “national leader of the winning faction” of the opposition party.

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‎“Shortly after that, you now know what happened to PDP. They are fragmented. So, I don’t know how you are going to put it together, but I recognise you as a national leader, national leader of the winning faction of PDP because you are doing well,” he said.

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‎Earlier in his remarks, Akpabio recounted Wike’s visit to Akwa Ibom during his tenure as governor, saying the FCT minister had toured one of the state’s underground drainage projects and remarked that he would “perform miracles” if given the opportunity to govern Rivers State.

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‎The Senate President said Wike eventually lived up to that promise after becoming Rivers governor, adding that he jokingly told him he had supported him to become governor “not to surpass what I did” and urged him to “take it easy.” According to Akpabio, delivering infrastructure had since become part of Wike’s “DNA.”

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‎Akpabio’s latest remarks came two days after he took a swipe at the PDP during the inauguration of Akinwumi Ajibola Street in Abuja, where he said he was surprised the opposition party was still in existence and urged Wike to allow it “die.”

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