Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has strongly criticized the All Progressives Congress, describing it as a political party formed out of “anger, malice and hatred,” with no genuine ideological foundation.
Lamido made the remarks in his autobiography titled “Being True To Myself”, which was officially unveiled to the public on May 13.
In the publication, Lamido expressed disappointment at members of his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party, who defected to the ruling APC.
He said he found the decision baffling and did not hesitate to distance himself from those involved.
He said, “I once had cause to explain to some members of the public after the APC was formed that it was created out of anger, malice and hatred.
“It was not, and has never been, a serious political party; its proponents were only parochial scavengers, who see politics as a huge enterprise.”
Lamido traced the history of party politics in Nigeria, pointing to the evolution of the PDP, AD, and APP in 1999. He explained that the AD and APP had initially formed an alliance to challenge the PDP’s candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, in that year’s presidential election. Following their defeat, the alliance dissolved, eventually morphing into what would become the APC.
“The AD/APP alliance later dissolved into the ANPP. But they lost the elections; it was these losers that later came together to establish the APC,” he wrote.
He also accused the APC of manipulating public perception by promoting Muhammadu Buhari as a symbol of integrity, which he claimed distorted historical facts and diminished the legacy of Nigeria’s earlier political icons.
“What the APC did was to turn history upside down and promote a so-called ‘Mr. Integrity’ and hoodwinked Nigerians with false tag.
“Before Buhari came into the scene we had leaders with established record of integrity and powerful reputation, like Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Mallam Aminu Kano, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and General Murtala Mohammed.
“Unfortunately, even Buhari himself, with time, came to accept the praises of integrity being showered upon him by his political promoters.
“For example, he had not been heard to acknowledge the clean records of General Murtala or Aminu Kano during his political rallies in Kano.”
Lamido concluded by revealing that he turned down several invitations to join the APC, even during periods of turmoil within the PDP, reinforcing his position that he could not align himself with a party he believes lacks ideological depth.
