Former Minister of Sports, Barr. Solomon Dalong, has vowed to dump the All Progressives Congress, APC, soon, if the party continues the way it is going now and loses favour with Nigerians.
The former minister spoke to newsmen when he accompanied the founder of popular Abuja-based King Adebayo Film and Theatre Arts Network Television, Prince Adewole Adebayo, who declare his intention to run the 2023 presidency before pressmen at the Queen Lilian’s House, Katampe, Abuja.
Adewole said he would be running under a coalition of political parties, which he would make public soon.
He said that what is happening in the party at the moment would determine his next move, adding that the ruling party has so far failed the people of Nigeria.
Dalong said that with all the promises the APC made in 2015, he was at least expecting that by now Nigerians would have been like Dubai and not for citizens to be “dying like flies and we’ll be helpless as a government.”
“I’m not that impressed with what we have been able to achieve since 2015. When I was campaigning for APC in 2023, I was thinking that by now, Nigeria would have been looking like Dubai, that was what I expected,” he said.
He continued, “I least expected that the APC, my party, would not be run by a Caretaker Committee.
“In fact, I least expected that leaders of my party would agree and allow the violation of the Constitution of the Federal Government of Nigeria by our own party, the same thing we accused the previous PDP administration.
“If I deceive myself that I’m happy with what is happening, then, I’m not being honest. But let me also make this very clear, Nigerians are ridiculous people. People assumed that, ‘Oh, you are talking because you’re no longer in government.’
“And my answer has always been the same: is it because I’m not in government that bandits set 43 people ablaze in Sokoto; is it because I’m no longer a minister again that over 200 people were killed recently? Is it because I’m no longer a minister that 48 farmers were slaughtered one by one in Borno State?
“I’m still a member of the All Progressives Congress. I’ve not dumped the party. I don’t want to speculate. There are many things that are going on in the party.
“So, it is what happens in the party that would determine by position in history. If the party proceeds the way it is and loses favour with Nigerians, I’ll stand with the Nigerian people and not follow a political party of the elites.”
Asked if accompanying Adewole on a day he declared to contest for the 2023 presidency was a clear indication that he was dumping the APC and indeed abandoning his friend, President Muhammadu Buhari, Dalong added, “I cannot abandon President Muhammadu Buhari because he is friend and father.
“He means well for the country, but I realise that good intentions alone are not enough to transform and change the country giving him the support for him to try and at least leave anything as legacy for his tenure.”
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