After spending two years at Hansa, the player moved to their Bundesliga rivals VfB Stuttgart and then VfL Wolfsburg in 1999.

Akpoborie was part of the Nigeria team that won the first edition of the FIFA U-16 Championship in 1985, scoring in the final against the then West Germany.

His first senior cap was in a 1992 Africa Cup of Nations Third-place match against Cameroon, which the Super Eagles won.

In the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF first round, he scored his fourth goal in Nigeria's 4–0 win over Eritrea in Lagos.

In 2001, Akpoborie made the headlines when a boat, managed by his family, was stopped in Benin after allegations that it was carrying children into slavery in Gabon.