This is a friend’s letter. Since we shared the same political beliefs and aspirations for a better Nigeria within the same party for almost 12 years, I’d want to take this opportunity to call you a friend. I also remember convincing two rich friends to join me in Dubai, where you were living in exile, to celebrate your fiftieth birthday. In order to meet with you and another of your Canadian friends, I traveled to Dubai twice more with various delegations. For the same reason, we also met again in Accra, Ghana.
To meet with your friend and current rival, Nuhu Ribadu, I also went to Rwanda and Liberia. Under the ACN at the time, these journeys were made to choose the best candidate to fly our presidential banner. Later, I set up another meeting between Ribadu and our leaders in Dubai. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Segun Osoba, Bisi Akande, Niyi Adebayo, Rauf Aregbesola, and a number of other people were present at the meeting.
However, our selected candidate, Ribadu, would not arrive until the third day, which led Osoba to quip that I should give up on my goal of becoming a senator if he did not arrive from his headquarters in the United States. When Ribadu finally showed up, we made do with him. You quickly became marginalized after defecting to Goodluck Jonathan’s side out of rage.
For a brief period, I oversaw Ribadu’s campaign, enlisting bright and motivated young people, but that endeavor was short-lived. Our tendency toward expediency caused that ACN’s presidential bid to fail. Our AC ticket was picked up by Atiku Abubakar during a previous “transfer season,” but that too went miserably.
In addition to all of this, you were a part of the 2015 merger that resulted in Muhammadu Buhari. I observed from a distance as a small group hastily crafted what appeared to be a manifesto, which was quickly rejected due to the fact that it was not the result of group thought.
In retrospect, none of the subsequent endeavors, including the significant union of CPC and ACN to establish APC, have produced any noteworthy results. The people they were supposed to help have become poorer, while those we previously thought were good people have become wealthy. Bitterness has resulted from unhealthy competitiveness that has shattered long-cultivated friendships. And despite all of the conflicts, alliances, betrayals, and reconciliations, our nation is still in a coma.
I have also heard—though I have yet to confirm from you—that you led the committee set up by General Abdulsalami Abubakar to locate me when I was left in solitary confinement after the deaths of Abacha and Abiola, while others had been freed.
We frequently crossed paths throughout my eight years in the Presidency, whether in Abuja or Kaduna, when you were the governor.
However, friendship and nostalgia are not the subject of this letter. It has to do with your recent political actions and their meaning. Those who criticize you for leaving our alleged party are not me. Not at all. My concern is about the endless merry-go-round of Nigerian politicians, the constant movement without direction—what Fela, the musician, once called “perambulation.”
The Crucial Question: What Exactly Is This Move About?
I am aware of your transition from APC to SDP, as well as the frenetic cross-carpeting of politicians across the country. But I sincerely hope this is not just another barber’s chair movement—spinning round and round but going nowhere.
They say only a madman does the same thing over and over again and expects a different result.
So, tell me, Nasir, is this about the people? Or is it another ego-driven exercise, fueled by personal ambition and the present discontent in the country?
Is this yet another hastily assembled political project, crafted to serve a few individuals who, having been sidelined from the feasting table of the current overlords, are now seeking a new platform to reposition themselves for the next political cycle?
I have always known you to be intelligent, hardworking, and sometimes strategic. But I must say, you have not always been consistent.
You take a position today, only to negate it tomorrow. And in politics, that kind of inconsistency is fatal. It does not make for the kind of leadership Nigeria needs at this critical juncture. If we are to truly liberate our people from the cesspool into which the country has sunk, we need leaders who stand firm on principle, not those who sway with the wind.
Forgive me if I seem to be getting personal. This letter is not really about you, Nasir. It is about the broader failure of Nigeria’s political culture—the shallowness of our party structures, the absence of real political organization, and the failure of governance.
But since individuals shape institutions, one cannot entirely separate the nature of our politics from the temperament of those who occupy the political space.
What We Lack Are Political Parties, Not Just Political Figures
Let me be blunt: Nigeria has no real political parties.
None of the current players—APC, PDP, or SDP—qualify as proper political institutions.
These are mere vehicles for power, hastily assembled contraptions used by those with means, guile, and bravado to seize office and, once there, engage in a contest to outspend Aliko Dangote.
This absence of well-structured, purpose-driven political organizations is why politicians in Nigeria keep defecting from one party to another, treating politics like European footballers switching clubs every transfer season.
Until we, the so-called political elite, understand what a real political party is—its structures, goals, and responsibilities—we will remain unprincipled, selfish, self-centered, and insincere actors who lack vision and patriotism.
Read Also: Sani: Nigerians Suffering Massively Under Tinubu’s Leadership
Nasir, This Is Not About Owning a Party—It’s About Building One
For posterity’s sake, do not aim to own a party. Instead, mobilize like-minded people to build a truly national political institution, strong enough to withstand Nigeria’s turbulent political climate.
And when I say like-minded people, I wonder how principled individuals can sit at the same table with Major Al-Mustapha—the Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha, whose hands are stained with the blood of many innocent citizens, including Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
I was riled and overwhelmed by indignation when I recently read of the elation with which you received him into your new party.
Why do we always forget so soon?
What is the definition of a party? What are its fundamental attributes? What goals must it pursue to qualify as a true political movement?
A party built on the primacy of personal ambition will not last. If you embark on this course without deep reflection and principled action, you will be back in four years, looking for another party to join or returning to the one you just left.
Take a cue from Chief Awolowo. When he and other patriots established the Action Group, they did not build it on personal ambition. They structured it around three core objectives:
The absence of ignorance – Free education for all.
The absence of disease – Accessible healthcare.
The absence of want – Economic empowerment and prosperity.
From these goals, they crafted policies that transformed the Western Region.
Final Though
Nasir, if this latest movement is just another barber’s chair—spinning but going nowhere—then you are wasting your time.
But if it is truly about the people, about genuine change, about building something enduring, then do it right.
