SENATE President Godswill Akpabio has denied ever being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite his previous political positions and elective offices on the platform of the party.
News Point Nigeria reports that Akpabio made the claim during Tuesday’s plenary while responding to a motion seeking to honour the late former governor of Kogi State, Ibrahim Idris.
The motion was sponsored by Senator Jibrin Isah, representing Kogi East, who, while introducing it, recalled that Idris was a member of the PDP and told Akpabio that they were all members of 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.
He described Idris, who governed Kogi State from May 29, 2003, to January 27, 2012, as the longest-serving governor in the state’s history.
Akpabio, however, interrupted the senator and rejected the reference to his membership of the PDP.
“I was never in PDP. My spirit might be there, but my heart was never there.
“I have always been a progressive,” Mr Akpabio said.
Akpabio served as governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015 and was chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum during his tenure. Contemporary reports also identified him as chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and a PDP governor during that period.
He was elected to the Senate in 2015 on the platform of the PDP and served as Senate Minority Leader between 2015 and 2018.
Contemporary reporting confirms that he was elected senator on the PDP platform and became Senate Minority Leader in July 2015.
