Akpabio who is expected to formally leave the main opposition party, PDP for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, held the position as a PDP member.
“May I extend to you and my dear colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senate Caucus of the 8th senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the compliments and best wished to my constituents and I,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
“This letter is to formally inform you of my resignation as the Senate Minority Leader with effect from August 4, 2018.
“Let me thank the Senate minority leadership, our distinguished colleagues and our great party, the PDP for the opportunity to lead the Caucus in the last three years,” he added.
Akpabio had met vacationing President Muhammadu Buhari in London on 5 August.
Issues discussed were not disclosed but sources close to the conversation said it bothered on Akpabio’s defection to the ruling party, his role in the forthcoming election and recapturing Akwa Ibom from PDP.
The former Akwa Ibom governor’s decision to leave the PDP has dampened PDP’s celebration over the defection of a dozen senators, three governors and some 30 members of the House of Representatives, who hitherto were members of the All Progressives Congress.
Akpabio had met Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on Thursday and national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Lagos on Saturday.
He is scheduled to officially switch to the APC in Ikot Ekpene on 8 August.
He was governor of oil-rich Akwa Ibom state from 2007-2015. He was elected a Senator in 2015 and was chosen as the minority leader for the Peoples Democratic Party senators.
