You became prominent under the PDP, party tells Akpabio

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken exception to the recent denial by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of ever being a member of the party.

The party described it as “laughable” and “ridiculous” for a politician who came into national prominence during his years as a governor under the PDP, to suddenly deny the party simply because he had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“It is laughable for the Senate President to claim that he was never a member of the PDP, or whatever it was that he said.

“It is in his heart, and he is the best person to say exactly what is in his heart. But what is very apparent and obvious to our party and Nigerians is that he came into the limelight on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

“If, at this point, he is coming out to say he was never a member, then I think, with due respect to the Senate President, whatever he would say, has said or intends to say should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nigerians should not take all that he says hook, line and sinker”, the National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, told the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja on Sunday.

Akpabio, while speaking on the floor of the Senate in Abuja on Tuesday, shocked his colleagues as he openly denied ever being a member of the PDP.

Describing himself as a “progressive”, he gleefully declared that he had always played progressive politics in his life.

“I was never in PDP; my name might be there, but my heart was never there.

“I have always been a progressive”, he told the Red Chamber.

The Nigerian Tribune recalls that Akpabio served as the governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015. He was also the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum before he later won an election to the Senate in 2015.

Akpabio was the Minority Leader of the Senate from 2015 to 2018 while serving as a PDP senator.

He held the position after leaving office as Akwa Ibom governor in May 2015, and served until his defection from the PDP to the APC in August 2018.

However, on Tuesday last week, the Senate President denied ever being part of the PDP.

What led to the denial was a motion of urgent public importance raised by Kogi East Senator, Jibrin Isah, seeking to honour the memory of the late Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.

Idris, a former governor of Kogi State, passed away on September 20, 2026.

While seeking to move the motion, Senator Isah tried to remind Akpabio that they (Akpabio, Idris and himself) used to be members of the PDP.

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“The late Ibrahim Idris was a member of the PDP; I was there while you were there too, all of us were there”, Isah added.

He further stated that the late Idris was the governor of Kogi State from May 29, 2003 to January 27, 2012, “the longest in the history of the state.”

However, Akpabio interrupted him and insisted that he was never a member of the PDP.

Mohammed said the PDP actually cherished Akpabio and the contributions he made to the development of the party over a long period of time, but expressed disappointment in him for denying the party.

“We respect him, we appreciate him and we acknowledge the contributions he has made to the development of the PDP and democracy in Nigeria. But for him to come out and say that he was never, or that his heart was never with the PDP, is most ridiculous”, he added.

While wishing Akpabio well in his membership of the APC, the PDP reminded him that things might change quickly, warning him to return to the party to plead to be taken back.

“Having found his name on the PDP register and having been elected on the platform of the PDP, I think one can best describe his statement as ridiculous and contradictory.

“We understand that he is enjoying the APC at the moment, so let him continue to enjoy it while it lasts. We hope that when the PDP takes over power, he will not come to Wadata Plaza, begging for another opportunity to contest an election on the platform of the PDP”, ” he further said.