..No victory worth Nigerian life, Akpabio warns politicians, denies commitment to PDP

Upon resumption from a two-month recess, the Senate, yesterday, noted that the 2027 general election could be likened to a contest for Nigeria’s future and pleaded with candidates for the various elective offices not to set the country on fire through violent rhetoric.

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, warned politicians against deploying ethnic, religious and regional divisions in their quest for victory in the 2027 elections, declaring that no electoral prize is worth the life of a Nigerian.

Meanwhile, Akpabio found himself confronted with his own political history when a colleague’s reference to his past in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) triggered an unexpected exchange on the floor of the Senate.

He denied being committed to the PDP, a party that offered him the governorship seat for eight years and other political opportunities.

The Senate also noted that in less than two days, the country will mark 66 years of Independence and use the opportunity to honour those who believed that the vast and varied land could govern itself and shape its destiny.

Welcoming the senators back to the Red Chamber, Akpabio, who is Chairman of the National Assembly, noted that the campaigns for the 2027 general elections had begun, remarking that since political parties had chosen their candidates, citizens would weigh rival visions.

“Let the contest be vigorous; let it be open; and let every participant remember the country that must live together when the contest is over. Those who seek office need not see eye to eye in order to walk hand in hand as Nigerians.

“We can contend without setting community against community, faith against faith or one part of our Republic against another. Let every candidate make a case and answer hard questions,” he said.

According to him, no electoral prize is worth a Nigerian life, as no victory deserves celebration if it leaves the nation wounded.

Akpabio interrupted Senator Jibrin Echocho while the Kogi lawmaker was moving a motion in honour of the late former Kogi State Governor, Ibrahim Idris, after Echocho referred to the Senate President as a former PDP member.

Rather than accept the tag, Akpabio pushed back, saying: “I was in PDP, but my heart was not there.”

The remark immediately turned attention from the tribute to his long journey through the party before his eventual defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The irony was difficult to miss.

Akpabio’s rise to national prominence was largely built under the PDP. He served as a commissioner in Akwa Ibom State before becoming governor of the state on the PDP platform in 2007. He spent eight years in the Government House, Uyo, before moving to the Senate in 2015 as senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West, still under PDP.

Later, Akpabio abandoned the PDP for the APC, dramatically changing his political alignment. Under the APC, Akpabio was appointed Minister of Niger Delta Affairs by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019. He resigned from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2022 to pursue his political ambitions and returned to the Senate in 2023. He subsequently emerged as President of the 10th Senate.

It was against that political backdrop that his brief exchange with Echocho played out yesterday.

The incident occurred as senators mourned Idris, who died in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2026, aged 77. (The Guardian)