Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has expressed concerns over the direction the All Progressives Congress (APC) is moving, saying it has derailed from the destination the founding fathers set to achieve. He admitted that the APC has left him stranded despite his effort for the party to remain as the ruling party.
The former FCT Minister was speaking during an interview on Arise TV yesterday, where he reiterated his resolve to remains politically active, but said he no longer recognizes the party he helped establish.
El-Rufa’I said, “I didn’t say I have no intentions of leaving the APC; I said that APC is my party—I founded it” and nurtured it to where it is today through deliberate effort he said.
“But the APC has left me; I didn’t leave the APC. We founded this party based on certain values, but today, the party has moved away from them. I feel stranded.” He lamented.
The former Governor criticized the party’s inability to uphold internal democracy, pointing out that, key decision-making bodies such as the National Caucus and the National Executive Committee (NEC) had not convened any meeting in over two years.
According to him, “When the organs of the party meet, they provide feedback to the government on how it is aligning its policies with the party’s manifesto. That’s the purpose of these meetings. The APC constitution mandates that the NEC meets at least once every quarter, but for two years, no meeting has taken place,” he said.
The former minister revealed that he had sought clarity from previous APC national chairmen, including Chief Bisi Akande, Adams Oshiomhole, John Odigie-Oyegun, and Abdullahi Adamu, but none of them could explain the party’s current state, meaning people are being detach from the party.
“I have visited all of them, Baba Akande, Oshiomhole, Oyegun, and just yesterday, I went to Keffi to see Abdullahi Adamu. I asked them the same question: ‘What is happening to our party?’ But nobody has answers because the party has not met for two years. There have been no conversations,” El-Rufai disclosed.
El-Rufai, however, did not rule out the possibility of seeking another political platform if the APC fails to realign with its founding ideals.
“If I can’t find those progressive values in APC, sooner or later, I may have to find another platform to pursue them. But I still hope the party will correct its course,” he stated.
As the APC prepares to hold a National Caucus and NEC meeting, El-Rufai said he expects the leadership to reflect on why the party has deviated from its core principles.
Despite his concerns, the former governor insisted he was not ready to retire from politics, but has not ruled out considering other political party platform, though PDP is not an option h, he clarifies.
“I will remain in politics for life, but that doesn’t mean I will keep contesting elections. I believe I have a role to play in influencing what happens in our party so that we have better candidates and better governors,” he said.
