El-Rufai: APC left me behind, I no longer recognise party

The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, says he no longer recognise the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing alleged neglect by the party.

The Star recalls that El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), could not be confirmed as a minister following his nomination by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

The Senate withheld his confirmation over petitions filed against him.

The former governor has since then been in the news for plans to dump the APC for another party.

Speaking at the national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja on Monday, January 27, 2025, El-Rufai criticised the APC for allegedly straying from its core values and promoting “ineffective” leadership.

El-Rufai said the various organs in the APC have not been holding meetings, adding that the leadership is running the party like a “one-man show”.

He said: “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.

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“Though I am the founding the member, the party has left me behind. I’m still there where we were. We wanted to form a progressive party that will fight corruption, revamp the economy and restore security to Nigerians. That was the objective of forming our party.

“But where is the APC today? I don’t recognise it like I said. It has left me behind. I still believe that the purpose of political contestation in Nigeria is still remains revamping the economy, restoring security and fighting corruption. The problems are still there.

“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.

“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.”

El-Rufai, therefore, urged other political parties in the country to unite and form a viable coalition against the APC.

The former governor added: “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.”

The Star