Mass
defection reportedly looms in the All Progressives Congress over the
controversial exit of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the
ruling party.
Atiku Abubakar
Following the defection of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar
from the ruling party, there were fears among the All Progressives
Congress chieftains on Friday.
According to Saturday Punch, it was gathered that although the APC
was expecting Atiku’s exit, it dawned on it on Friday that the former
vice-president’s action could lead to mass defection from the ruling
party.
It was learnt that the fears were worsened by the feeling of some
leaders of the party that the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party in
2014 could befall the APC before the 2019 elections.
In 2014, the PDP was weakened following the exit of some governors
and National Assembly members, including a former Kano State Governor,
Rabiu Kwankwaso; ex-Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi; Senator
Bukola Saraki, and the then Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Aminu Tambuwal.
Chieftains of the APC, who confided in Saturday PUNCH on Friday,
said although the ruling party had been waiting for Atiku’s defection,
it was uncomfortable with the fact that there were many aggrieved
members who would soon dump the party in power.
One of the party leaders cited Kwankwaso and a former Lagos State
governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as two of those who were not happy with
the way the party was being run.
He said more than two years after coming to power, President
Muhammadu Buhari had not made appointments that would bring into
government those who worked for his election.
The chieftain also said that associates of the President including
the Chief of Staff, Mr. Abba Kyari and Buhari’s nephew, Maman Daura,
“have constituted themselves into a powerful cabal. They take key
decisions in this government. Those who ensured Buhari’s election have
been sidelined. If the APC and the Presidency dismiss Atiku’s defection,
they are not realistic. There are fears that the party may crumble.
Apart from the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, there are
other appointees of this government that are supporters of Atiku.”
In a statement on Friday morning, Atiku explained why he left the
APC. He said that while other parties had purged themselves of the
arbitrariness and unconstitutionality, the ruling party adopted same
practices.
He stated that the ruling party had instituted “a regime of a draconian clampdown on all forms of democracy within the party and the government it produced.”
Atiku disclosed the decision to leave the ruling party in a statement he personally signed.
He went down memory lane to recall that on December 19, 2013, he hosted members of the APC in his house in Abuja.
He said the party members were there to appeal to him to join the
APC after he left the PDP because of the crisis emanating from the
special convention of the former ruling party on August 31, 2013.
He recalled that he and several of his loyalists were left in limbo at the time the APC came calling.
Atiku said, “It was under this cloud that members of the APC
made the appeal to me to join their party, with the promise that the
injustices and failure to abide by its own constitution which had dogged
the then PDP, would not be replicated in the APC and with the assurance
that the vision of the founding fathers, which I had for the PDP, could
be actualised through the All Progressives Congress.
“It was on the basis of this invitation and the assurances made
to me that I, being party-less at that time, due to the
fractionalisation of my party, accepted on February 2, 2014, the hand of
fellowship given to me by the All Progressives Congress.
“On that day, I said ‘it is the struggle for democracy and
constitutionalism and service to my country and my people that are
driving my choice and my decision” to accept the invitation to join the
All Progressives Congress.”
Explaining the reason behind his decision to leave the APC, Atiku
said events, which unfolded soon after the party took power, proved his
earlier optimism was misplaced. He said like any other human and many
other Nigerians, he was fallible.
To buttress his point, the former vice-president said, “Only
last year, a governor produced by the party wrote a secret memorandum to
the President which ended up being leaked. In that memo, he admitted
that the All Progressives Congress had ‘not only failed to manage
expectations of a populace that expected overnight ‘change’ but has
failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance.”
“Of the party itself, that same governor said, ‘Mr. President,
sir your relationship with the national leadership of the party, both
the formal (NWC) and informal (Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar,
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso), and former governors of ANPP, PDP (that joined
us) and ACN, is perceived by most observers to be at best frosty. Many
of them are aggrieved due to what they consider the total absence of
consultations with them on your part and those you have assigned such
duties.”
He expressed disappointment that since the memorandum was written,
nothing had been done to address the issues raised in it till this day.
Atiku accused the party of making false promises especially to those who were invited to join.
“More importantly, the party we put in place has failed and
continues to fail our people, especially our young people. How can we
have a federal cabinet without even one single youth?
“A party that does not take the youth into account is a dying party. The future belongs to young people,” he said.
Atiku noted that he and the others who accepted the invitation to
join the APC were eager to make positive changes for the country but
that “we fell for a mirage.”
He further explained that he arrived at the decision to leave the
APC after due consultation with his God, family, supporters and the
Nigerian people from all walks of life.
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