The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, says the difference between the two major political parties in the country is just the name.
The presidential aspirant stated this on Thursday evening during Channels TV’s Politics Today programme monitored by TODAY POLITICS, arguing that there appears to be no distinction between the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
To him, the difference is just that one is the ruling party while the other is the main opposition party.
“I won’t say there is a lot of difference, maybe just in name, to be honest with you,” Mr Akpabio explained. “In my personal opinion, yes this side is much more progressive and we thought the other side were capitalist, but when we have a lot of capitalists coming into the APC, are you going to say that APC is still the same again?
“For me, I think the only difference is that one is in power and one is in opposition.
“Political parties is like a vehicle, it’s almost like a supermarket where people come in and go out. Those who started the PDP are probably in the APC you see today.
“I know people who left the APC in 2019 and one week later they became presidential candidates, became senatorial candidates, became governorship candidates and vice versa,” he said.
The former Akwa Ibom governor who is aiming to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in office next year also argued that leadership is embedded in him and his 2018 defection to the All Progressive Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won’t affect his chances of replicating what he did during his reign as Akwa Ibom governor.
“So the distinction should not be there, you look at my character, you look at my records. You don’t need to like my face but please if my record is good enough then you must join hands with the Nigerian youths, the women and all those who are clamouring that Godswill should be done in 2023,” he said, promising to fight corruption the same way the present administration, accused of encouraging the monster, is doing.
