The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman (North West), Hon. Garba Datti Muhammad, has asked the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to refrain from castigating and deriding leaders of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that formed the ruling APC.
Hon. Datti, who is also the chairman of the board of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), said the CPC bloc in the APC remains dedicated, committed and steadfast to the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that they would continue to support the president just as his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari declared.
Following the recent defection of a CPC member, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), there were insinuations that some key members of the defunct CPC bloc within the ruling party would follow suit.
However, former president Buhari, the CPC leader, has since distanced himself from El-Rufai’s defection and restated his commitment to the APC, declaring support for President Tinubu’s administration.
Some key figures from the CPC bloc within the APC declared last week that their bloc does not plan to abandon the APC and pledged their unalloyed support to the APC-led government under President Tinubu’s able leadership.
The CPC bloc included Tanko Al-Makura, a former governor of Nasarawa State; Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, a former speaker of the House of Reps and ex-governor of Katsina State; Malam Adamu Adamu, Buhari’s minister of education; and Hon. Faruk Adamu Aliyu, a former member of the House of Reps.
However, Malami said that the CPC bloc leaders should speak only for themselves and not the entire bloc.
However, in his reaction in Abuja on Sunday, Hon. Datti, who recently wrote a widely circulated open letter to a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, and El-Rufai, said Malami lacked any merit to attack the CPC leaders.
“I was utterly stupefied when I saw the statement credited to Malami. He tried to deride and denigrate the key figures of the CPC bloc in the APC.
“It is laughable that Malami had the temerity to castigate Al-Makura, the only governor elected on the CPC platform in 2011. Maybe he should also be reminded that Masari was the Deputy National Chairman of the APC during its formation — the highest office held by a CPC bloc member during the merger.
“Al-Makura and Masari are political heavyweights who have won governorship elections twice, unlike Malami, a political lightweight, a paper tiger, and a politician without electoral value.
“During the CPC struggles, the party did not win even a councillor seat in Kebbi, Malami’s home state. Lest we forget, Malami had obtained the APC governorship forms to contest for the governorship of Kebbi State in 2023. But he chickened out, having sensed that he did not possess the electoral value to clinch the ticket. So, what benefit is he to any political movement?” he queried.
Hon. Datti, who served as the CPC House of Reps Caucus Leader between 2011 and 2015, added that Malami and his co-travellers were only trying to reap where they did not sow, having worked tirelessly against the APC during the presidential election, for President Tinubu to lose the polls.
He said, “It is still fresh in our memories that the likes of Malami constituted themselves as the powerful cabal under the Buhari government and worked vigorously against President Tinubu’s candidature.
“Even before the 2023 presidential contest, right from Buhari’s first term in office, they ensured that Tinubu was effectively sidelined and marginalised in the scheme of things. But Asiwaju did not rock the boat; he stayed in the party and remained committed to its ideals.
“Today, the Malamis of this world, having realised that they could not eat their cake and have it, have now resorted to political gyration, all in an attempt to dump the same party that made them what they are today. Why not emulate Tinubu?”
The APC National Vice Chairman, North West, reminded Malami that the CPC bloc in the current government is adequately represented as its members hold key positions, such as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“For the record, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, GCON, is of the CPC bloc; Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago of Niger State, and Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State all came from the CPC. The Minister of Environment, Malam Balarabe Lawal Abbas, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, and the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, were all from the CPC.
“We also have three senators from Katsina State from the CPC. I can go on and on to name key CPC figures in the current government.
I want to make it categorically clear to Malami that we do not intend to leave the APC for whatever reason. We are satisfied with President Tinubu’s stewardship and will continue supporting him,” he added.
