Akpabio Mocks Opposition Parties Over Defections in Senate

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stirred reactions on social media after mocking the internal crises within opposition parties during plenary.

Akpabio made the remarks while reading an official defection letter from former Sokoto State governor and serving senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, confirming his move from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The letter also referenced a number of resignations and defections involving members of the Labour Party (LP) and other minority caucuses.

While reading the letter on the floor of the Senate, Akpabio reportedly paused and reacted humorously to the developments within the opposition ranks.

“Oh, PDP is gone!” he said, before adding, “Even the Labour Party is dead. I’ve read about three different political parties now,” as he continued reading details of the defections.

The Senate President also dismissed claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was responsible for the crisis within opposition parties.

According to him, the challenges being faced by the opposition stem from internal leadership problems rather than external interference.

“You cannot accuse the ruling party of tampering with their leadership because here you have APGA, you have Labour, you have MVP and others. So all of them have a problem. They’ve not been able to put their parties together. So APC cannot be blamed for this,” Akpabio said.

He added that the defections were further strengthening the majority status of the APC in the Senate, noting that the development would leave opposition parties with minority positions in the chamber.