Akpabio to formally defect to APC on Thursday after reaching agreement with Tinubu

SENATE minority leader Senator Godswill Akpabio is to be officially unveiled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as its newest member on Thursday after he and party leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu reached an agreement in Lagos yesterday.

Last week, it emerged that Senator Akpabio is considering leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joining the APC due to intractable differences between himself and Akwa Ibom State governor Udom Emmanuel. Last Thursday, PDP leaders converged at the party's national headquarters in Abuja, where they welcomed recent defectors from the APC like senate president Bukola Saraki and Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal but Senator Akpabio was absent.

Senator Akpabio did not attend the event as he went to a meeting with vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa where it is believed they perfected plans for his defection to the APC. yesterday, things went a step further after Senator Akpabio met with Asiwaju Tinubu at his Lagos residence where it was agreed that he will be received into APC by Professor Osinbajo at a rally in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.

In response to the defection plan, the PDP has claimed that Senator Akpabio is considering leaving the PDP because the government was threatening to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against him if he did not work to deliver Akwa Ibom State for the ruling party in 2019. Senator Akpabio governed Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2015 as a member of the PDP before handing over to Governor Emmanuel, his hand-picked successor.