…say, since the formation of the APC in 2013, former ANPP members have been systematically sidelined in political appointments.
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The iNews Times reports that twelve years after the historic merger that birthed the All Progressives Congress (APC), members of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have issued a stern warning to the ruling party saying ‘address our exclusion or we walk.’
Speaking in Abuja, the National Coordinator of the Association of Former ANPP Members, Professor Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, lamented that since the formation of the APC in 2013, former ANPP members have been systematically sidelined in political appointments and decision-making processes.
The APC was formed through a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the ANPP, a coalition that successfully ousted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power in the 2015 general elections.
“Since the emergence of the APC, most ANPP members have been relegated to the background,” Ajumbe stated.
He accused the past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who came from the CPC bloc, and the current government under President Bola Tinubu, an ACN product of marginalising the All Nigeria Peoples Party wing of the party.
Ajumbe said the association would begin consultations at the state and zonal levels to brief their members on the way forward, hinting that defection is on the table if their grievances remain unaddressed.
“We are aware that Mr. President is busy and may not be fully aware of the exclusion of the former ANPP bloc from the scheme of things. That is why we are bringing this to his notice,” he said.
To address their concerns and prevent a mass exodus, Ajumbe urged President Tinubu to immediately appoint former ANPP members into key roles such as ambassadors, board chairpersons, ministers, and heads of agencies.
Beyond appointments, the group made a bold political demand: the vice-presidential ticket for the 2027 general election.
“Since the formation of the APC, the CPC bloc ruled for eight years under the late President Buhari. The ACN bloc currently holds the presidency. Fairness and equity demand that our President should hand over power to the ANPP bloc when his tenure expires in 2031,” Ajumbe argued.
The growing agitation from within the APC signals deeper cracks in the ruling party’s internal coalition, as blocs that came together for power now jostle for survival and relevance in a post-Buhari era.
