Godswill Akpabio has resigned his position as the Senate minority leader. Mr Akpabio’s resignation is contained in a letter dated August 4, which he wrote to the Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha.

“This letter is to formally inform you of my resignation as the Senate Minority Leader with effect from August 4, 2018,” Mr Akpabio said in the letter.

He thanked the Senate leadership, his colleagues, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the opportunity given to him to lead the PDP caucus in the Senate for the past three years.

Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, has been on the spotlight in the past few days, following his planned defection from the opposition PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He is scheduled to be formally received into the APC on Wednesday in a rally in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state.

Mr Akpabio, though a first-timer, was elected Senate minority leader in 2015, against known parliamentary convention where leadership positions are usually given to ranking senators.

It is believed that the senator’s political differences with the governor of Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel, may be responsible for his leaving the PDP. It is also believed in some quarters that the senator may have been coerced by the APC-led federal government to defect.

The planned defection has rattled politicians in Akwa Ibom, especially officials of the state government and members of the PDP in the state.

Senator Akpabio’s resignation letter – PREMIUMTIMES