"I Was Never in PDP": Akpabio’s Senate Remark Clashes with His Political Record
- Senate President Godswill Akpabio rejected a fellow senator's claim that he was once a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
- The claim came during Tuesday's plenary session while a motion to honour late Kogi governor Ibrahim Idris was being debated
- Akpabio served two terms as Akwa Ibom governor and was elected to the Senate, both on the PDP platform, before defecting to the APC in 2018
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
FCT, Abuja - Senate President Godswill Akpabio sparked controversy at Tuesday's plenary session after he flatly denied ever being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a claim that contradicts a significant portion of his political career.
The denial came while the Senate was considering a motion to honour Ibrahim Idris, the late former governor of Kogi State.
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The motion was brought by Jibrin Isah, senator representing Kogi East, who noted that Idris had been a PDP member and reminded Akpabio that both of them had belonged to the same party.
"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 during the session.
Isah also noted that Idris, who governed Kogi State from May 29, 2003, to January 27, 2012, was the longest-serving governor in the state's history.
Akpabio's remarkable claim
As reported by TheCable, rather than acknowledge the reference, Akpabio cut in and dismissed the suggestion outright.
"I was never in PDP. My spirit might be there, but my heart was never there. I have always been a progressive," he told the Senate.
The remark drew attention because the public record tells a different story. Akpabio served as governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015 under the PDP banner and chaired the party's Governors' Forum during that period.
He also won a Senate seat in 2015 on the PDP platform and went on to serve as Senate Minority Leader between 2015 and 2018, before crossing over to the All Progressives Congress (APC) that same year.
Idris motion provides the backdrop
The exchange unfolded as the Senate was deliberating on how to commemorate Idris, who led Kogi State for nearly nine years and remains the longest-serving governor in the state's history.
Senator Isah's remarks about the former governor's PDP membership were meant as a point of context, but they unexpectedly drew Akpabio into a public contradiction of his own political past.
Legit.ng has previously reported on the controversies surrounding Akpabio's leadership of the Senate, including the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and his falling out with several of his colleagues ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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Akpabio defends Tinubu's extended vacation
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Akpabio dismissed calls for Tinubu to hand over power to Vice President Kashim Shettima during his working vacation abroad.
Akpabio spoke on Tuesday, September 22, in Akwa Ibom state while commissioning road projects and addressed concerns over the President's three-week holiday, recently extended by one week.
The Presidency had not provided a formal return date for President Tinubu as at the time Akpabio made his remarks.
Source: Legit.ng
