365NEW S GATHERED that the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has blasted the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing the party of straying from its founding ideals and fostering poor leadership.
The ex-governor, while addressing a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, labelled the state of governance and opposition in the country as a national emergency.
El-Rufai, who shared the report on his X handle on Tuesday, expressed concern over the absence of internal democracy and active party structures within the APC.
“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show,” he said.
He condemned the quality of leadership emerging from political parties, blaming the situation on unqualified delegates.
“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 added.
The former governor charged political parties to raise standards for candidates and delegates, stressing that the constitution’s minimum requirement of a secondary school certificate should not be enough for nominations.
He lamented that the APC’s founding goals of combating corruption, rebuilding the economy, and enhancing security have been abandoned.
Citing a poll that showed 75 percent of registered voters might abstain from the 2027 elections, El-Rufai warned of a potential crisis.
Reacting to El-Rufai’s post, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communications and Media, Daniel Bwala, queried the former governor’s stance, asking if he would have held the same position had he remained in the government or cabinet.
“My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam,” Bwala wrote.
Meanwhile, the Former Governor has stated that the gap between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) is growing wider.
Speaking at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria in Abuja on Monday, el-Rufai, a prominent figure in the APC, criticized the party for allegedly deviating from its foundational principles and fostering ineffective leadership.
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) expressed disappointment that party organs had not convened in two years, accusing the leadership of running the APC like a “one-man show.”
“I am a founding member of the APC, but frankly, I no longer recognize the party. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it’s a one-man show. It’s a zero-man show,” he remarked.
He continued, “Although I’m a founding member, the party has left me behind. We wanted to build a progressive party that would fight corruption, revive the economy, and restore security for Nigerians. That was our goal. But where is the APC now? I no longer recognize it. It’s left me behind. I still believe the primary purpose of political engagement in Nigeria remains to fix the economy, restore security, and fight corruption. But those issues are still unresolved.”
El-Rufai further argued, “You cannot have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and manipulative people as leaders. That’s why we end up with the poor leadership we have today.”
He added that while the challenges that led to the creation of the APC persist, he no longer believes the party is committed to addressing them. “The distance between me and the party is widening,” he said.
El-Rufai also called for opposition parties to unite and form a strong coalition to hold the ruling party accountable.
He mentioned the internal challenges within opposition parties, saying, “There are mercenaries within the PDP, hired and motivated to destroy the party. The Labour Party is facing similar issues. Peter Obi himself told me, ‘I don’t know what’s happening in the party I contested for president.’ It seems there is a deliberate effort to undermine opposition parties.”
