Senator Akpabio met with Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, August 2, 2018, ignoring the PDP's National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting also taking place in Abuja at the same time.

The former Akwa Ibom governor attended the Osinbajo meeting with fellow Akwa Ibom lawmaker, Senator Ita Enang (Itu/Ibiono Ibom - APC) who's President Muhammadu Buhari's senior special assistant on national assembly matters.

The meeting lasted for about 1 hour 30 minutes and has fuelled reports that Akpabio is planning to defect to the ruling party after falling out with incumbent Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel.

Akpabio's potential defection would score some consolation points for the APC as the party has been hit with a wave of defections that has led to the loss of dozens of lawmakers, including Senate President, Bukola Saraki, three state governors and several state executives to opposition parties, mostly the PDP, in just one week.

His meeting with Osinbajo carries some extra significance as the vice president will be Acting President for the period of 10 days as President Buhari has travelled to London for his vacation.