The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, has asked former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, to resign from the ruling party if he no longer believes in its ideals.
CityNews reports that Basiru also warned that the APC would not hesitate to invoke disciplinary measures against Fayemi over alleged anti-party activities.
He accused the former governor of working with opposition elements to weaken the party ahead of the forthcoming Ekiti governorship election.
Fayemi, a founding member of the APC and former Minister of Solid Minerals Development, had recently said the party was “losing its bearing and vision.”
Speaking with Saturday Punch on Friday, Basiru said Fayemi should be bold enough to leave the party if he no longer believed in it.
Basiru said, “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.
“We urge him that since he so much despise the party and wish the party an implosion, he should go to where whatever he thinks 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 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.”
APC Faults Public Criticism
Basiru said Fayemi should have used the party’s internal dispute resolution channels if he had concerns about developments within the APC.
He argued that criticising the party publicly at a time it was preparing for its Ekiti governorship primaries amounted to an attempt to weaken the party.
According to him, the timing of Fayemi’s comments suggested a plan to “demarket” the APC ahead of the election.
The APC national secretary also claimed that Fayemi’s remarks supported an earlier allegation by former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, that some APC members were collaborating with opposition forces.
Basiru said, “His statement only further confirmed what Mr Rotimi Amaechi said that he was one of those people who conceded to form opposition against the APC.
“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.”
Fayemi Criticised Consensus Primaries
Fayemi had, during an interview on State Affairs with Edmund Obilo, lamented what he described as the absence of debate and intellectualism within the APC.
He also criticised the party’s increasing adoption of consensus candidates during primaries across states, saying the method contradicted democratic principles.
The former governor warned that the APC had drifted from the vision of its founding fathers.
Basiru also defended the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.
He described Fayemi’s criticism of the policies as “ill-informed or mischievous.”
