Taiwo Popoola
The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has blasted the Governing 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.
