President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has denied ever being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite in the past holding top elective and political positions on the banner of the party.
Akpabio disclosed this during Tuesday’s plenary while responding to a motion seeking to honour late former governor of Kogi state, Ibrahim Idris.
The motion was sponsored by senator representing Kogi east, Jibrin Isah, who recalled that Idris was a member of the PDP and told Akpabio that they had all belonged to the same party at the time.
“The late Ibrahim Idris was a member of the PDP; I was there while you were there too, all of us were there,” said Isah.
Isah described Idris, who governed Kogi state from May 29, 2003, to January 27, 2012, as the longest-serving governor in the state’s history.
But Akpabio, interrupted the senator and rejected the reference to his membership of the PDP.
“I was never in PDP. My spirit might be there, but my heart was never there. I have always been a progressive,” the senate president said.
JESNews recalls that Akpabio served as governor of Akwa Ibom state from 2007 to 2015 and was incidentally the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum during his tenure.
He was also elected to the senate in 2015 on the banner of the PDP and served as senate minority leader between 2015 and 2018.
Akpabio, later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2018.
