Senator Abubakar Sadiq Yar’adua, one of the founding members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has formally announced his resignation from the party, citing the abandonment of its foundational values and failure to protect the interests of Nigerians.
Sen. Yar’adua, a former Member of the House of Representatives and a governorship candidate during the 2015 general elections accused the government of President Bola Tinubu of embarking on destructive economic policies that undermine, destroy, and desecrate, the lives, welfare dignity, lands and livelihood of the people. He said that “those in government have truly become what Malam Nasir el-Rufa’i would refer to as “urban bandits,” or in my view, “bandits in government.”
In a letter dated July 28 and addressed to the APC Ward Chairman of Wakilin Gabas Ward in Katsina Local Government, Yar’adua described the ruling party as having deviated from its original mission and accused its leadership of betraying the Nigerian masses.
“I cannot sit idly by or remain in a political party that has completely abandoned its foundational principles and objectives of being a servant of our teeming ordinary, he wrote.
Yar’adua, who played a key role in the formation of both the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and later the APC, lamented that the party has become “more retrogressive and reactionary” than the administration it replaced in 2015.
He condemned the current government for its alleged indifference to widespread insecurity, economic hardship, and human rights abuses. He accused the leadership of imposing “destructive economic policies” and likened the current ruling class to “urban bandits” who have lost touch with the reality of the people.
“I can no longer support a party or a government that unashamedly watches its citizens being maimed, intimidated, sexually harassed, assaulted, killed and uprooted from their lands,” Yar’adua stated.
The senator declared his intention to join forces with “like-minds” to democratically unseat what he called a “bad, selfish and stinkingly corrupt administration” that prioritises elite and foreign interests over the well-being of ordinary Nigerians.
He concluded his letter by calling on his supporters, associates, and political allies to follow him to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a party he believes is better positioned to restore Nigeria’s lost glory.
Senator Yar’adua’s exit from the APC after the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari could signal significant political shift in the state’s political dynamics ahead of the next election cycle.
