President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, sparked reactions on the Senate floor after openly mocking the state of Nigeria’s opposition parties during plenary.
The remark came while Akpabio was reading an official letter announcing the defection of former Sokoto State governor and serving senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
According to the correspondence, Tambuwal has formally joined the African Democratic Congress.
The letter also revealed a wider shake-up within the minority caucus, including resignations from the Labour Party.
As he continued reading the notice, the Senate President paused and reacted to the developments, apparently amused by what he described as the steady decline of opposition platforms.
“Oh, PDP is gone!” Akpabio exclaimed, laughing as he addressed the chamber.
After referencing further resignations affecting the Labour Party, he continued with another jab at the opposition.
“Even Labor Party is dead. I’ve read about three different political parties now.”
Akpabio also used the moment to dismiss claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is responsible for the internal crises rocking opposition parties.
He argued that the challenges facing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are largely due to their inability to manage their own leadership structures.
“You cannot accuse the ruling party of tampering with their leadership because here you have APGA, you have Labor, you have MVP, and all those things. 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 stated.
He concluded by noting that while opposition parties continue to grapple with internal challenges, the ruling APC remains focused on governance.
