Godswill Akpabio, former senate
minority leader, says he is not perturbed by the call to declare his seat
vacant.
Akpabio is representing Akwa Ibom
north-west in the upper legislative chamber.
On Sunday, the Reformed All
Progressives Congress (R-APC) asked Senate President Bukola Saraki to declare
Akpabio’s seat following his defection to the ruling party from the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).
The group based its demand on the
premise that there is no division in PDP.
But speaking with journalists at
the national assembly on Monday, Akpabio dismissed the R-APC saying the group
is not a political party.
He added that if the excuse of
R-APC is that there is no rancour in PDP to warrant his defection, they should
also know that there is no rancour in APC.
“Even as you are looking at me,
do I look perturbed? I have not heard the report. Because the reason why I
think that is a rumour is that there is, at the moment, no division in the
APC,” he said.
“The APC is one family. If you
hear about R-APC that was not really a political party that was not a division,
has since been consumed in what they call Coalition of United Political Parties
(CUPP). So, there is no division. And so, any defection from APC to PDP, we
will like to declare those seats vacant.”
When asked if the All
Progressives Congress (APC) senators had perfected their plans to remove
Saraki, Akpabio said he is yet to be briefed on any plan.
“I just came in from Ikot-Ekpene,
where I decided with my people to join APC. I’m yet to be briefed on any of
those items. I have not heard anything,” the senator said.
“And what I am hearing now is
what you are telling me. But why don’t you wait for me to formally talk to you?
I believe that when the national assembly resumes you will hear from me
directly. So, exercise patience.”
This is what you get when the law and common sense no longer exist in the national consciousness of these thugs. The law is clear: when there is a division in a political party, any elected politician in the aggrieved faction may defect. The R-APC knew this, created the division nationally, and then defected when the national executive messed up. Why can't Akpabio do the same? He is fighting a losing battle. Unfortunately, the R-APC people are playing advance political chess based on the law whilst APC is using federal power and thuggery (which won't work). There is absolutely no merit in any PDP member defecting as there is no division in PDP.
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