Godswill Akpabio Resigns As Minister of Niger Delta Affairs

Godswill Akpabio, said he was moved to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2018 because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s “sincerity” in running the affairs of Nigeria.

Mr Akpabio also said he joined the APC in order to help Mr Buhari when he noticed that some of the president’s allies “were attempting to abandon” the president.

“Events forced me to join the party. Number one, I saw the sincerity of Mr President. I saw his effort when I was in the National Assembly,” Mr Akpabio said in a Channels TV interview, posted on YouTube on May 5.

“I also saw the effort of people who assisted to bring him into power, attempting to abandon him and attempting to derail him, and I said no, this cannot happen because you have to think Nigeria.

“You mustn’t continue to think of your personal interest alone. Whether you are happy or not with the people in government, you must think of Nigeria, that is why I said no, I must step out and join this president to continue to move this country forward because I know he is doing a great job for the country.”

The minister did not mention the allies that attempted to abandon or derail the president.

Mr Akpabio, soon after he defected from the PDP, reportedly said his heart in 2015 was for Mr Buhari, and not President Goodluck Jonathan, although he said he voted for the latter in that year’s presidential election.

Mr Akpabio was Akwa Ibom governor for eight years under the PDP.

He was elected a senator to represent Akwa Ibom North-West District in 2015, but later resigned his position as the Senate minority leader in 2018 and defected to the APC.

He, however, lost his bid to return to the Senate in 2019.

‘Political party is like a supermarket’

Mr Akpabio, who recently declared his intention to contest for Nigeria’s presidency in 2023, said there is no difference between the APC and the PDP.

“Maybe it is just in name, to be very honest with you. For me, the only difference is that one is in power and one is the opposition.

“Political parties are like supermarkets. People come in and go out. Those who started PDP are probably in the APC today. I know people who left APC in 2019. One week later they became presidential candidates, senatorial candidates, governorship candidates, ” he said.

Mr Akpabio said his priority would be to tackle the insecurity in Nigeria, as well as the economic decline and disunity if he is elected president.

He said he would forever remain in the APC.

“I won’t be able to go back to the PDP. But I am not one of those who would say that if I go back, I would die. This is my last bus stop,” he said.

Mr Akpabio has a message for the Nigerian journalists.

“And particularly for the press, I always try to advise you were set up to fight colonial masters. But colonial masters have since gone, you must now look out for the best in any administration. You must promote those things that would lead to national integration and revival,” he said.