Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state and a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed disillusionment with the party, accusing its leadership of straying from its core values and promoting “ineffective” governance.
Speaking on Monday at the National Conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria, held in Abuja, el-Rufai criticised the party for failing to address key national issues and accused its leadership of running the APC like a “zero-man show.”
“I am the founding member of the APC. But frankly, I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years — no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it is a one-man show. It is a zero-man show,” el-Rufai said.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lamented the party’s departure from its original mission, which he said was focused on fighting corruption, revamping the economy, and restoring security for Nigerians.
“The problems that led to the creation of the APC remain unresolved, but I no longer believe the APC is interested in addressing them. The distance between me and the party is widening,” he added.
El-Rufai also raised concerns about the quality of leadership within the ruling party, warning against what he described as “illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people” being entrusted with positions of authority.
“You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today,” he said.
While acknowledging the challenges facing Nigeria, el-Rufai called for opposition parties to unite in forming a viable coalition to hold the ruling party accountable.
“There are internal mercenaries in the PDP, hired and motivated to destroy the party. The Labour Party is also facing similar issues. Peter Obi himself told me: ‘I don’t know what’s happening in the party I contested for president.’ There seems to be a deliberate project to destroy opposition parties,” he noted.
