Ex-rep: APC called PDP a virus… but it’s now importing members from opposition

Sergius Ogun, a former member of the house of representatives, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) has contradicted itself by embracing the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) it once condemned.

Speaking on ‘Focus Nigeria’, a programme on AIT, on Monday, Ogun said the APC portrayed the PDP as a virus but is now welcoming its members in droves.

“Remember everything APC said about PDP then and they gave Nigerians the impression that PDP then was a demon harassing this country, but they’re even worse now,” he said.

The PDP chieftain said the anti-corruption campaign of the current administration has completely collapsed.

“I don’t know the last time you heard about corruption, I mean in government circles, people talking about the fight against corruption — that one is gone, absolutely gone,” he said.

He accused members of the ruling party of hypocrisy, saying they speak against the use of dollars while engaging in dollar-based bribery.

“Now they’re advertising that we should stop using the dollars, people that are preaching against using the dollars in your country, they are the ones even bribing with dollars, and nobody’s talking about these things anymore,” he added.

“It’s gone out of all the plates, nobody’s discussing it and all you are talking about — the economy is so bad, people are dying, you have insecurity everywhere, people are going to negotiate on how to move from one platform to the other.

“So again, it’s not about the people.”

Ogun said although the PDP has its flaws, the APC’s hypocrisy is glaring.

“Yes, PDP did the same thing but how did they end up?” he asked.

“If you remember what APC was saying then, even after they won the election — that was in 2015 — immediately after they won the election, some PDP members were going to cross over and they said no.

“Oyegun was the chairman then. They put a halt to it. They were a bit political about it. The PDP that is so bad, the PDP that is the virus, are the people you are approaching now. So who imports the virus into his system?

“So that’s what we are saying again — it’s not about the people and this coming together definitely will fail, I can assure you that.

“Let it be about the people, let the narrative be about the people and not about them — and the people are wiser today.”

He praised the Labour Party’s independence in the 2023 election, describing Peter Obi’s campaign as an example of people-centred politics.

“That’s why we gave an example of (Peter) Obi,” he said.

“Labour Party did not merge with anybody and let’s be honest, whatever manipulation they did, Obi got more than the 6 million votes that they allotted him — and in 2027, can they do this?”

Reacting to the recent defections, Felix Morka, national publicity secretary of the APC, said it is not the responsibility of the ruling party to strengthen the opposition.

Morka dismissed suggestions that the APC is weakening democracy by receiving defectors from other parties.

On April 23, Ajibola Basiru, national secretary of the APC, likened the ruling party to Jehovah’s Witnesses — a Christian group famed for its door-to-door evangelism.

He said one of the policies of the APC is to build a functional and efficient party structure at every level of governance.