Nigeria’s electoral process improved since PDP left power – Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that Nigeria’s electoral process has witnessed significant improvement since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) left power at the federal level.

Akpabio made the remark on Wednesday during the second reading of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill at the Senate plenary.

Interestingly, Akpabio, who served two terms as governor under the PDP and was first elected to the Senate on the same party’s platform, credited the progress in Nigeria’s elections to reforms introduced after the PDP’s exit from power in 2015.

“I’m sure that even myself and Senator Abaribe, who have been around for almost two and a half decades in these electoral matters, I know you don’t care about political party, you win elections in any party.

“You have a lot of experience, but you will agree with me that since PDP left, the elections have improved tremendously in this country.

“I recall, I’ve been close to most of the presidents since 1999, and I recall in 2007, when I won as a governor, our then president, may his soul rest in peace, President Yar’Adua, had to come out publicly to say that the election that brought him as president was totally flawed. He said it was full of inconsistencies and rigging. Since then, we have plugged the holes.”

Akpabio added that although Nigerians still experience setback, the system has improved.

“Imagine this last election, we had to go up to the Supreme Court arguing as to whether winning the Federal Capital Territory was the only reason why you should become president,” he said.

“People were saying, No, win FCT and then you have won the presidency. So, you can lose in 36 states of the federation, but once you win FCT, you have become president. They wasted time, had panels upon panels on television, and at the end of the day, we got to the Supreme Court and back.

“Common sense could have told us that that was not the intent of the Electoral Act.”

The senate president defected into the ruling party after the PDP lost power in 2015. He had contested the 2019 election under the All Progressives Congress (APC), but lost.

However, the late President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him a minister.