The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Ajibola Basiru, has asked former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, to resign from the ruling party if he no longer believes in its ideals.
Basiru also warned that the APC would not hesitate to invoke disciplinary measures against Fayemi over alleged anti-party activities following his recent criticism of the party.
Fayemi, a founding member of the APC and former Minister of Solid Minerals Development, had said during an interview on State Affairs with Edmund Obilo that the ruling party had lost its “bearing and vision.”
He also lamented what he described as the absence of debate and intellectualism within the party, while criticising the growing adoption of consensus arrangements in party primaries across states.
Reacting to the remarks, Basiru accused Fayemi of acting in a manner inconsistent with party loyalty and said the former governor should leave the APC if he no longer believed in the platform.
“We believe that he should be courageous enough to formally resign membership of the party he so much despises and he so much wishes to collapse rather than playing ostrich,” Basiru said.
“We urge him that since he so much despises the party and wishes the party an implosion, he should go to where whatever he thinks is his best idea can be ventilated.
“We wish him the best of luck, but he should not stay within our party and be wishing us bad luck. He should go to another political party if he no longer believes in the party he represents.
“Let him go and join another party. If he does not join another party, the APC will not hesitate to invoke disciplinary actions to sanction him for anti-party activities,” he added.
Basiru claimed the timing of Fayemi’s criticism was suspicious, especially as the APC prepares for its governorship primary in Ekiti State.
According to him, Fayemi should have used the party’s internal dispute resolution channels if he had genuine concerns, instead of making public comments capable of weakening the party.
He further alleged that Fayemi’s statement confirmed an earlier claim by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, that some APC members were working with opposition forces against the ruling party.
“His statement only further confirmed what Mr. Rotimi Amaechi said that he was one of those people that conceded to form opposition against the APC,” Basiru said.
“We also have it on good authority that he and some of his followers have been hobnobbing with opposition elements, particularly ahead of the Ekiti governorship election.
“Even at this time that the party is conducting its primaries and making preparations for the all-important Ekiti governorship election, it only shows a design to demarket the party ahead of that election,” he added.
Basiru also defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, describing Fayemi’s criticism of the policies as either “ill-informed or mischievous.”
However, some Nigerians have faulted Basiru’s response, accusing him of intolerance to criticism and saying he does not want to hear the truth about developments within the APC.