Politics

APC Now ‘Zero Man’ Show, No Longer Believes In Confronting Nigeria’s Problems – El-Rufai

APC Now ‘Zero Man’ Show, No Longer Believes In Confronting Nigeria’s Problems – El-Rufai
  • PublishedJanuary 28, 2025

Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a zero-man show, noting that the party had abandoned its objectives.

El-Rufai lamented the current state of the ruling party, adding that APC no longer believed in confronting Nigeria’s problems.

The former governor stated this on Monday in Abuja, at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).

He noted that the opposition party must unite to save democracy, describing the current situation with the opposition as well as the style and quality of governance as a national emergency.

El-Rufai also expressed concerns about the targeting of opposition parties in Nigeria, particularly the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which he claimed is “clearly targeted for destruction.”

He also said similar moves were being made towards the Labour Party, citing a conversation with Peter Obi, where Obi admitted, “I don’t know what is happening in the party that I contested for president.”

“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ of the APC has met for the past two years. No caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it is a zero-man show,” he said.

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“The problems are still there. However, I no longer believe that my party believes in confronting those problems. So, the distance between me and APC is widening, but I remain where I am because these problems remain the living problems of Nigerians and they have to be addressed, and the only way to address them is through the instrumentality of the political parties,” he added.

“There are internal mercenaries in the PDP that have been hired, paid, or otherwise motivated to destroy the party,” he said, predicting that “the party is on its way to the grave, and it is most unfortunate.”

El-Rufai further stated that “there seems to be a project to destroy all the opposition political parties” and insisted that the only viable option for the opposition is to unite and form a broad platform.

“We have to put aside our differences and create a broad platform that will do the driving of the military again because we are there almost again,” he said.

El-Rufai also stressed the need for minimum qualifications for both political party candidates and the delegates who elect them. “You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, cunning people, and so on as your leaders,” he said.

He warned that failing to set such standards results in poor leadership: “You will end up with what we have. So, the parties must have a standard.”

Other speakers at the event include Vice President Kashim Shettima, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi.