FORMER Akwa Ibom State governor and current senate minority leader Godswill Akpabio suffered a major embarrassment in London yesterday when his credit card was declined at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge. 

Governor Akpabio who is in London to recover from the effects of a minor road accident he recently had in Abuja, has been in hospital for the last few weeks. It appears that he has now been discharged and decided to move into the luxury hotel in west London but had difficulty booking in as his card had inadequate cash on it. 

Yesterday, at the reception of the posh five start Mandarin Hotel, a flustered Senator Akpabio, who wore a blue sports jacket, was visibly embarrassed on being told that his credit card had been denied. Two unidentified persons were with the former governor at the reception desk as he looked worried and flummoxed about the credit card predicament.

Keen to resolve the matter, the former governor was heard barking out orders at an official at Eco Bank in Lagos, persistently asked why his card was not working. He remained at the reception for a while at the insistence of the hotel’s management, who later checked him in after the matter was resolved. 

In Nigeria, credit cards act like debit cards as cash is loaded on to them and whenever the amount added to them runs out, they get declined. Bank staff have to then reload cash on to the cards from their clients' accounts. 

Senator Akpabio admitted that his card was declined because he had used it to check out of the Four Seasons luxury hotel earlier in the day and as a result, it had maxed out of its daily spending limit. It is not yet clear when Senator Akpabio will return to Nigeria to resume his duties as senate minority leader.