Dear Nasir,
This is a letter from a friend. I take the liberty of calling you a friend because, for nearly 12 years, we walked the same political path, sharing dreams of a better Nigeria within the same party. I also recall your 50th birthday when I persuaded two wealthy friends to accompany me to Dubai, where you were in exile, to celebrate with you. I made two other visits to Dubai with different delegations to meet with you and another of your friends from Canada. We also held another meeting in Accra, Ghana, for the same purpose.
I also traveled to Rwanda and Liberia to meet with Nuhu Ribadu, your friend and now your rival. These trips were in search of the right candidate to bear our presidential flag under the ACN at the time. Later, I arranged another meeting in Dubai between our leaders and Ribadu. Present at that meeting were Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Segun Osoba, Bisi Akande, Niyi Adebayo, Rauf Aregbesola, and several others.
But Ribadu, our chosen candidate, would not show up until the third day, prompting Osoba to joke that if he failed to come from his base in the U.S., I should forget about my senatorial ambition. Eventually, Ribadu arrived, and we settled for him. In anger, you defected to Goodluck Jonathan’s camp, but were soon sidelined.
I briefly managed Ribadu’s bid, mobilizing brilliant and enthusiastic young men and women for the campaign, but that effort was short-lived. That ACN bid for the presidency ended in disaster, a victim of our penchant for expediency. In an earlier “transfer season” Atiku Abubakar picked up our AC ticket, and that, too, failed woefully.
You were involved in all of this, as well as in the 2015 merger that produced Muhammadu Buhari. From a distance, I watched as a select group hurriedly cobbled together a semblance of a manifesto, which was soon discarded because it was not a product of collective reasoning.
Looking back, every effort since then—including the grand merger of CPC and ACN to form APC—has not led to any remarkable outcome. Individuals we once believed to be upright have grown richer, while the people they were meant to serve have grown poorer. Friendships long nurtured have been destroyed by unhealthy competition, leaving bitterness in their wake. And after all the battles fought, alliances made and broken, betrayals and reconciliations, our country remains in a state of 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.
During my eight years working in the Presidency, our paths crossed often, whether in Abuja or Kaduna, where you served as governor.
El-Rufai: Some persons paid to be appointed Tinubu’s ministers
But this letter is not about nostalgia or friendship. It is about your recent political moves and what they symbolize. I am not one of those criticizing you for leaving our so-called party. Far from it. 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 Question That Must Be Answered: What Is This Move Really 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.
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:
1. The absence of ignorance – Free education for all.
2. The absence of disease – Accessible healthcare.
3. The absence of want – Economic empowerment and prosperity.
From these goals, they crafted policies that transformed the Western Region.
Final Thoughts
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.
History will judge.
Your friend,
Senator Babafemi Ojudu, CON
The Star
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