News Investigators/ The All Progressives Congress (APC) has no choice but to accept ”displaced politicians” from other parties in the wake of rising defections, Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has said
Mr Ndume said this at the Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s 6th Annual Award Lecture 2025(121-Posthumous Birthday Celebration)themed “The Power of Pan-African unity, Strengthening Nigeria’s Role in African Integration and development”in Abuja.
Reacting to the statement of former Niger State Governor of Niger, Mu’azu Aliyu, saying that the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has successfully removed the cancer destroying the party by suspending some members, Mr Ndume called for unity in the interest of Nigeria.
“I wish you good luck. You said that you have removed the cancer. I do not know whether it is too late or your patient will be revived.
“We in APC have no choice but to accommodate our displaced politicians that are trooping into APC. Our president is a leader and that comes to the topic of today.What we need is that charity begins at home. Let us be united.”
Mr Ndume stressed the need to for politicians to be behind the leadership of President Bola Tinibun to move the country forward through unity.
According to Mr Ndume, other parties in the political scenario that were supposed to be either the opposition or the minority are concentrating on picking over power which is yet to come.
“We far away from 2027 yet the PDP are gathering in Ibadan to say they want to throw away APC. Wait until 2007.
“Come and contribute to the success of the government but they are saying that they want to come into APC.
“We opened the door. In fact, I warned that APC is being overloaded and when you have a ship and you have loaded cargo, most of them empty, then there are chances you will capsise and if it capsises, you the owner of the ship will be in a bigger problem. That is why we find ourselves, “he said.
Mr Ndume said that the PDP is not comfortable playing the minority or the opposition role.
He said that the leadership of APC went out of its way to ask them to come over.
“But when your brother is displaced because of crisis in his party and he knocks at your door, will you leave the door closed or you open it for him? So that is what is happening to us.
“So when they come ;as we get them into APC, they are not contributing anything. They do not say anything. They just sit down and be part of it.”
Earlier, Mr Aliyu, who is also the Chairman of the 2025 National Planning Committee of the Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe’s 6th Annual Award Lecture condemned the mass dedection in political parties to APC.
Mr Aliyu warned, ”believe me, if we make the mistake of creating a one-party state in Nigeria, we will pay for it.
“So it is good that we give an alternative to people, but that does not say that if people decide to go one way, we must really accept it.
“There was a time when PDP had up to 28 governors in this country and nobody cried foul. But one can cry foul when you see your governor has been taken away either by bribe or by intimidation.
“The constitution of the country says you cannot go to another party with the mandate of another party and yet we are not following that rule.”
Mr Aliyu said this mandated PDP to go to Ibadan to look at what has been happening to the party.
“Like surgeons, we removed the cancer. The cancer that had been part of our party that has crippled the party.
“We hope with that removal of the cancer, the party may be able to move and give Nigerians an option on what to do,”he said.
Also speaking, Tijani Mohammad-Bande, President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA),and Chairman of the Occasion, called for the need to strengthen the bonds of unity in Nigeria and Africa.
Prof. Mohammad-Bande urged politicians to walk in the footsteps of Nnamdi Azikiwe as politicians with the interest of the nation before anything.
“Being a ceremonial president in the 60s, and then putting a big fight to become the executive president. Through it all, he maintained his relationships with all Nigerians, which is important.
“Nothing will happen, and Nigerians must hear this, we can make no progress if we do not push to our purposeful unity.
“Today, one tweet from an individual of an institution, and we begin to abuse ourselves. I mean, how do we get to this?”
Prof. Mohammad-Bande explained that the role of Nigerians should be in bringing development, justice, and democracy on the African continent just like Zik and other founding fathers did.
“I insist that Nigerians need to know what our founding fathers meant. They fought, they quarrelled, but they stood for Nigeria, which we thought is important,”he said.
NAN