VIDEO: I was in the wrong party called PDP — Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio declared Friday that he was in the "wrong party" during his tenure with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), asserting that he has now found his true political alignment within the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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Please ignore the comment of the honourable minister that I was an uncommon performer in PDP. He is not talking about PDP of today.

Akpabio made these statements during the inauguration of access roads for the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates in Abuja's Karsana District. The event commemorated President Bola Tinubu's third year in office. Responding to comments from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who praised Akpabio's past performance as an "uncommon performer" in the PDP, Akpabio urged APC National Working Committee members to disregard the remark. He clarified that Wike's comment referred to a period before the APC's formation.

"Please ignore the comment of the honourable minister that I was an uncommon performer in PDP. He is not talking about PDP of today," Akpabio said. He explained his political journey, noting that he served as governor of Akwa Ibom State for over seven years before the APC was founded in 2014. "A progressive-minded person like me should belong to a progressive family. And therefore, when APC came to be, I discovered that that was my group, that I was in the wrong party called PDP. So I took my exit early and joined the progressives," he added.

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A progressive-minded person like me should belong to a progressive family. And therefore, when APC came to be, I discovered that that was my group, that I was in the wrong party called PDP. So I took my exit early and joined the progressives.

Akpabio further commented on the PDP's fragmentation, acknowledging Wike as the "national leader of the winning faction" of the opposition party. He also recalled Wike's visit to Akwa Ibom during his governorship, joking that he supported Wike's bid to govern Rivers State not to be surpassed in performance. Akpabio's remarks follow a recent instance where he questioned the PDP's continued existence and urged Wike to let it "die."

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I recognise you as a national leader, national leader of the winning faction of PDP because you are doing well.