Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufa’i, says the distance between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) is “widening”.
El-Rufa’i, a chieftain of the APC, who spoke on Monday at the national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja, criticised the party for allegedly straying from its core values and promoting ‘ineffective’ leadership.
The ex-governor said the various organs in the party have not been holding meetings, adding that the leadership is running the APC like a “one-man show”.
The former FCT minister said: “I am the founding member of the APC. But frankly, I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years – no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it is a one-man show. It is a zero-man show. Though I am the founding member, the party has left me behind. I’m still there where we were. We wanted to form a progressive party that will fight corruption, revamp the economy and restore security to Nigerians. That was the objective of forming our party.
“But where is the APC today? I don’t recognise it like I said. It has left me behind. I still believe that the purpose of political contestation in Nigeria, and still remains is: revamping the economy, restoring security and fighting corruption. The problems are still there.
He condemned the quality of leadership emerging from political parties, blaming the situation on unqualified delegates. “You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today”, el-Rufa’i added.
The former governor charged political parties to raise standards for candidates and delegates, stressing that the constitution’s minimum requirement of a secondary school certificate should not be enough for nominations.
He lamented that the APC’s founding goals of combating corruption, rebuilding the economy, and enhancing security have been abandoned. Citing a poll that showed 75% of registered voters might abstain from the 2027 elections, el-Rufa’i warned of a potential crisis.
