Akpabio says he has no immediate plans to become senate president following his defection to APC

FORMER senate minority leader Senator Godswill Akpabio has revealed that he has no intention of becoming the new senate president despite his recent defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Senator Akpabio, the former Akwa Ibom State governor resigned his appointment as the senate minority leader this week and yesterday officially joined the APC at a rally in Ikot Ekpene. Carefully wooed by the APC leadership, Senator Akpabio is seen as a potential replacement for senate president Senator Bukola Saraki, the party wants to impeach following his defection to the PDP.

Yesterday, however, senator Akpabio said: “I don’t have any intention of becoming senate president today but I have the intention of becoming whatever God wants me to be. My name is Godswill and I believe in the will of God.

“During my campaign, consistently, I told the good people of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria, let God’s will be done. I believe so much in the will of God and the will of man.”

He added that some of the reasons behind his defection to the APC was that the PDP had no reward system for members who toiled for the party. According to Senator Akpabio, the PDP chairman is shocked because he thinks he is moving against the tide but the former governor said he is not.

Senator Akpabio added: “For some of us that have stayed with the party and toiled with the party, there was no reward system at all. I can’t imagine people who destroyed the party in 2015 just merely signifying their intention to return and then we roll out the drums and with so much pomp and pageantry we now celebrate them as heroes of democracy and not destroyers of democracy.

"They say they are back. I wonder what they are coming to do in the party.”

Meanwhile, the chairman of the PDP's board of trustees, Senator Walid Jibril said it was the actions of the acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, that made the party donate Senator Akpabio to the APC. He added that it was the response of the acting president to the security siege at the National Assembly that made the opposition party allow Senator Akpabio go.

Senator Jibril said: “The recent attempt to tamper with the legitimate function of the National Assembly by selfish individuals who attempted to block the assembly should be condemned and appropriate action taken against the intruders. In this respect, the acting president Osinbajo should be praised for taking a decision to do away with the DSS boss, promising that the situation will be further investigated.

“The purported resignation of our minority leader, Godwill Akpabio is also an act of democracy. Therefore, considering the recent action taken by acting president Osinbajo, the PDP is happy to donate Senator Godwill Akpabio to APC through him with great pleasure, as we have many PDP senators to do that job which has been upgraded to majority leader."