The All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Umar Ganduje, has come under fire from Farouk Aliyu, a founding member, for making a one-party state remark.
The previous Minority Leader of the House of Representatives reportedly stated that Ganduje’s stance on a one-party state did not reflect the party’s stance.
On Tuesday, Aliyu justified opposition politicians’ switch to his party in an interview with Arise News.
“Undoubtedly, we are not best served by a one-party state. APC is not considering a one-party state. This is Ganduje’s personal opinion. Though he is our leader, the APC does not hold the view that a one-party state is what the party wants,” he stated.
He said that maintaining order in their households was the opposing parties’ job. It would be detrimental to the country’s democracy, he argued, if all politicians joined the APC.
However, I would like you to be aware that if someone runs to APC, it is not our fault. Up until we were a part of the ruling party, we were in opposition and remained so. the light of all the threats and so forth. It is not our intention to stop members of the PDP or other parties from joining us.
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But to be honest, our democracy is not doing well when everyone joins the APC. individuals can also say, “Since you are all in the APC, we will vote for any other party instead of the APC.” Democracy grants individuals this right. Since the electorate will choose who to vote for, let this not frighten anyone. In terms of numbers, 90 percent of Nigerians may choose to join the APC, but the people will choose their candidate when it comes to voting,” he said.
According to the chieftain of the Jigawa State APC, Nigerians, not party affiliation, should determine the outcome of an election.
If they are unhappy, he urged Nigerians to vote out the leaders who have switched parties.
“The Nigerian people are free to choose when elections are held if they don’t like the rate of change. Regarding intimidation, would you say that the former governor of Kebbi State was intimidated? This individual was the one who overthrew an incumbent governor. He defeated our current Kebbi State governor, who was running for a Senate seat. His current decision is to join the APC. So, what are we to blame if you consider all of these? They’re to blame because they’ve come to terms with what our administration is doing,” he remarked.
The former member of the House of Representatives also mentioned that Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor, joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) after he was not appointed as a minister.
His speech would be different if he were a minister. Such an elite stepping away from the grandeur of office is something we have yet to witness. El-Rufai is shouting because he missed out, in my opinion,” he continued.
