Nigeria’s Elections More Credible Under APC – Senate President Akpabio Declares

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has asserted that Nigeria’s electoral system has witnessed “tremendous improvement” since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was voted out of power at the federal level.

Akpabio, who twice served as governor under the PDP before defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made the statement on Wednesday during the second reading of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill at the Senate plenary.

Reflecting on his years of political experience, Akpabio said even opposition lawmakers could acknowledge the progress made in the conduct of elections.

“I’m sure that even myself and Senator Abaribe, who have been around for almost two and a half decades in these electoral matters, can testify that since the PDP left power, our elections have improved tremendously,” he said.

Citing the widely criticized 2007 general elections, the Senate President recalled that the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had publicly admitted that the election that brought him to power was marred by irregularities.

“I remember in 2007, when I became governor, President Yar’Adua, may his soul rest in peace, openly acknowledged that the election that produced him was deeply flawed — riddled with inconsistencies and rigging. Since then, we’ve worked to close those loopholes,” Akpabio recounted.

While noting that Nigeria’s electoral process is still far from perfect, he pointed to the 2023 presidential election debates as evidence of democratic maturity, referencing the legal dispute over whether victory in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) alone could determine the presidency.

“In the last election, we even went to the Supreme Court arguing whether winning the FCT alone qualifies one to be president. People wasted time on TV panels discussing it,” he said. “Common sense should have told us that was never the intent of the Electoral Act.”