Fani Kayode in his statement released this evening explains why he left the party.
Read 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 presence 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 monumental risks and been guided by my principles.
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 thinking 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.
It
would be recalled that after news broke out in April that Fani-Kayode
had left All Progressive Party (APC) for the ruling party, Peoples
Democratic Party after the
secret meeting he had with President Jonathan he spoke out saying: “
The step that I will take will be made known to Nigerians at the right time." (Naij.com)
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/67464.html