President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has said his decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) was driven by the belief that he had been in the wrong political platform.
Akpabio made the declaration on Friday during the inauguration of access roads leading to the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates in the Karsana District of the Federal Capital Territory. The event formed part of activities marking President Bola Tinubu’s third anniversary in office.
The Senate President made the remarks while responding to comments by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who had described him as an “uncommon performer” during his years in the PDP.
Akpabio, however, appealed to members of the APC National Working Committee not to misunderstand the minister’s statement, noting that it referred to a period before the ruling party was established.
“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.
Reflecting on his political career, Akpabio noted that he had already served 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.
He further argued that the PDP had become divided over the years and described Wike as the leader of what he called the party’s victorious faction.
“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.
Earlier at the event, Akpabio recalled that Wike had visited Akwa Ibom while he was governor and inspected one of the state’s underground drainage projects.
According to him, Wike had remarked during the visit that he would “perform miracles” if he eventually became governor of Rivers State.
Akpabio said Wike later fulfilled that expectation after assuming office as Rivers governor. He added that he once jokingly reminded the FCT minister that he had supported his governorship ambition “not to surpass what I did” and advised him to “take it easy.” He also said infrastructure development had become part of Wike’s “DNA.”
The latest comments came just two days after Akpabio criticised the PDP during the inauguration of Akinwumi Ajibola Street in Abuja, where he expressed surprise that the opposition party was still in existence and urged Wike to allow it “die.”