Controversial and outspoken two-time former
minister Femi Fani Kayode has left the APC and
explains why he left the party in a statement
released this evening...see below...
I declared for the APC in June last year in
Ado Ekiti, Ekiti state well before the party
was registered by INEC. I formally joined
the party, amidst great fanfare, on 7th
February 2014 in my hometown Ile-Ife and
I registered my membership on that day.
The registration was done outside the
Ooni's palace and it was done in the
prescence of the media, numerous party
leaders in the state, including Hon. Rotimi
Makinde, who represents Ile-Ife at the
Federal House, and all the other key leaders
of the APC in the state and Ife-Ife including
Chief Akantioke and Alhaji Soko Adewoyin
the former Deputy Governor of Osun state.
After registering we proceeded to pay a
courtesy call on my traditional ruler, the
Ooni of Ife, and from there I went to spend
a few days with Governor Rauf Aregbesola
who, together with Governor Kayode
Fayemi, I am close to and I consider to be
friends.
I have stated these facts and set the record
straight due to the fact that Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, the spokesman of the APC, had the
effontry to say in an interview with Premium
Times magazine earlier today, that I was never a
member of the APC and that I never joined them
formally. He also went further to say that had if
I had been a member of the APC the party would
have sanctioned me for expressing my
opposition to the idea of a muslim/muslim
ticket. The truth is that Mohammed is not only a
liar but he is also a coward. If he wanted to
know the truth he and those that sent him to
issue the statement could have called me and
asked me.
He ought to have done his homework before
speaking out. I was not only a member of the
APC but I was also a leader of that party and a
foundational member. Yet once I joined I began
to see things as they really were. I have never
been and will never be part of a cult and the fact
that people like Mohammed and those he
represents within the APC are not comfortable
with any form of admonition or criticism from
senior party members like me speaks volumes. I
have nothing but the fondest thoughts and
memories for the majority of APC leaders
including all the governors and most of the
Presidential aspirants but today I have an
important announcement to make. I wish to
inform the general public that as at today, 2nd
June 2014, I have left the APC and gone back to
the PDP. I wish the APC well in all their
endeavours but as at today we have parted
ways forever and my spirit has left them. My
reasons for leaving the party are because I
consider nation-building as being far more
important than party politics, party affiliation or
party formations. I am a devout and committed
christian and I cannot remain in a party where a
handful of people that have sympathies for Boko
Haram and that have a clear islamic agenda are
playing a leading role. This is made all the more
untenable when some of those people are
working hard silently and behind the scenes to
impose a muslim/muslim ticket on the party for
the Presidential elections next year.
I believe that religion ought to play no part in
politics but a situation where members of the
christian faith are not treated as equals and
where the all the substantive positions of the
National Executive of the party are made up of
almost exclusively muslims is unacceptable to
me. In fairness to the members of the party
there are many leaders within it's ranks who
share my views and who are also opposed to
the religious agenda that the few have but I am
not prepared to stay and fight from within
because the very prescence of any closet
Haramites on the same political platform as me
is something that I find utterly repugnant. I have
raised these issues privately with virtually every
key party leader including most of the governors
but nothing has changed. I cannot be in a party
in which the spokesman. Lai Mohammed, only
last year said that it was wrong and
''unconstitutional'' for the Federal Government to
proscribe Boko Haram.
This is the same Boko Haram that has killed no
less than 15,000 Nigerians in the last three
years. I cannot be in a party where the leading
Presidential candidate, only last year said that
Boko Haram ought to be killed but ought to be
treated like the Niger Delta militants, granted
amnesty without any conditions, pampered and
paid and who said, in 2001, that muslims should
only vote for people who will protect their faith. I
cannot be in a party where a number of leading
people question the secularity of the state and
yet those people are not called to order by the
so-called party leaders and where such people
seem to hold sway. I cannot be in a party which
appears to have politicised the whole of the
Chibok issue and who are not sincere in trying
to get the girls back.
I cannot be in a party where a few of it's leaders
are more interested in playing politics with the
whole Chibok issue and hurling bricks at our
military for not doing a better job. I cannot be in
a party in which the role of one of it's governors
is not clear on the Chibok issue: this is a
governor that has not been able to explain to
the world why he insisted that the girls should
do their exams in that school and remain in
Chibok for the night even though WAEC and the
Federal Government had warned them about the
dangers of doing so. I cannot be in a party in
which dissent and a differing opinion with others
on fundamental issues is seen as an offence and
something to be frowned upon or to be queried
or expelled for. I have been in politics for the last
24 years of my life and all along I have taken
monuemental risks and been guided by my
princples. I have also exhibited that I have the
courage of my convictions and more often that
not I have dared to say what many others are
thiniking but dare not to say. It is clear to me
that such sentiments are not appreciated in the
APC under it's present leadership and
consequently I have chosen to move on. I
believe that every religion and every ethnic
nationality in this country ought to be treated
with the greatest respect even within the context
of a political party. I believe that we are all
equal before God regardless of our religious
differences.
A situation whereby, as a christian, I am made
to feel that I am a second class citizen in any
association or political party which I am part of
and for which I have taken risks is unacceptable
to me. In order for any political party to move
our country forward you need the input, support
and confidence of the adherents of ALL religious
faiths and not just that of the muslims. This is
something that some in the APC do not seem to
appreciate. As a christian I feel deeply offended
by some of the rhetoric and behaviour of some
of the APC leaders and I cannot be expected to
remain silent in the face of such expressions.
These are the main reasons why I have left the
APC. I wish them well in all their endeavours
and like I said earlier many of their key leaders
and governors remain my personal friends and
will continue to do so even after this. Thanks
and may God guide and bless Nigeria.
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