Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has
clarified that he did not defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC,
but only moved to the party.
Akpabio said he was surprised that the same people who founded the ruling party were the ones pulling it down.
The former Governor, who represents Akwa Ibom North-West at the
National Assembly, told Vanguard that the same people were determined to
ruin the party to bring down the government of President Muhammadu
Buhari just because of their selfish interests.
Asked why he defected to the APC, Akpabio sais, “I did not defect, I
moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the national interest
especially if you look at what is happening at the national level.
“I was surprised that people who founded the APC were the same people
determined to ruin that party, to bring down the government of
President Buhari just because election is approaching, so that they
could go and contest under another platform.
“I felt there is need for us to have a country before we talk about
elections. People say statesmen think about the next generation while
politicians think of the next election.
“I saw a trend where a lot of us are now becoming politicians
thinking only of the next election without thinking of the next
generation.
“I moved in the national interest, to stabilize the polity and in order to support the current administration.
“And I think that, to a large extent, my intention was achieved and
so it was referred to as ‘uncommon defection’ because it was one
defection that stopped a lot of defections.
“I was not thinking whether I will win election in 2019 when I was
moving because, at that time, my state was totally PDP; when I moved,
people were shocked but today, less than two months after, the entire
state, 98%, has turned APC.”
Speaking further on the forthcoming general election, the former
governor said there will be no war in the country and added that only
people who want war will see war.
He said, “There will be no war in Nigeria in 2019, people should not think of election as war. Election should not be war.
“I appreciate that question because recently I made a statement which I love to make.
“I said, ‘Warsaw saw war’ because the political leadership in PDP in
Akwa Ibom had said that the current administration should recruit people
and prepare for war, that 2019 will be war and that only the fittest
would survive.
“So, the youths and some elders of the APC met me to say that people are calling for war.
“And I told them that people calling for war have never seen war and
that, in those days, even when the worst enemies of mankind, Hitler,
went to Poland which capital is Warsaw to wage war, he thought it was
going to be a cheap thing but it wasn’t.”