ColumnsOpinionPoliticsFani-Kayode’s Conviction in Defecting to the All Progressive Congress Party

Some minutes after singing of the goodness of President Muhammadu Buhari, he was asked if he was wrong about his former utterances against the President. He responded: ‘…it was a question of perception….I have never worked with him ever before in my life.

A week ago, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, popularly called FFK defected to the All Progressive Congress Party. It came as a shock to some, following his vehement verbal renouncement in the past that he would ‘rather die than join the APC.’ People have since tagged him as one who lacks integrity and an opportunist.

However, in a virtual interview on Channels Television, he made some clarifications on his present position in comparison with his former. He began with his allegiance to God:

‘…to God be the glory and blessed be his holy name. A lot has changed over the last six years. And it is important that we make the right choices and right decisions at the right time, precisely, if it feels as if we are being led by God to make those choices. I make my choice, I owe nobody any explanation or apology other than my family members and other than my God. And I know that I’m doing the right thing…’

Some minutes after singing of the goodness of President Muhammadu Buhari, he was asked if he was wrong about his former utterances against the President. He responded: ‘…it was a question of perception….I have never worked with him ever before in my life. We were not close. We were in different parties and we were fighting a political war in 2015 and I might add that over the last few years after that, I spoke against him probably more than anyone else in this country; however, when it became clear to me that it is not as we thought it was,…we retrace our steps, we stop and think and we say look, let us work together with those we may have been opposed to in the past… I’m not saying Mr. President is an angel and I’m certainly not saying he’s a demon. I’m saying that he’s a man like any other man and I’ve come to realize that we can work together and I’ve come to realize that he is open, he’s magnanimous,…’

‘It is a question of accepting the fact that people base their ideas on conviction and not any form of opportunism. That’s certainly me. If I wanted to be opportunistic, I would have done this long ago….”

After much explanation, his words, sometime in 2019 and precisely, on the 15th of December, 2019 were quoted verbatim to him where he said ‘I would rather die than join the APC’ and ‘I’m committed to opposing the APC..for the rest of my natural life and I will never join them no matter what,’ respectively. In response, he buttressed:

‘Let me put this to you: a lot has happened in the APC over the last few years…The APC I was speaking about at that time is not the APC of today. The APC of that time did not have the leadership that they have today…The old APC was different in its entire look and I would never have joined them had it not changed. What we have today is an accommodating party that is ready to take people in…Let’s not focus too much on what FFK has done. Let’s focus on our country, unity, peace, and building the bridges that we need to build to ensure that we don’t stand against one another as a people and end up having a civil war and I’m committed to fighting that. I’m committed to standing by this government as long as they are committed to fighting the terrorists and killing them morning, day, and night…’

His opinion was sought concerning the gravity of his words, ‘I would rather die.’ He defended:

‘It is a question of accepting the fact that people base their ideas on conviction and not any form of opportunism. That’s certainly me. If I wanted to be opportunistic, I would have done this long ago. I will never surrender my principles or my core values. I will repeat what I said earlier. It is the party that has changed- the leadership of the party, the quality of the party, the accommodating nature of the party, and the people within the party.

The APC of today is a liberal party. There are issues in PDP just as there are in any political party but let me put this to you: the leadership of the APC has evolved and that evolution has attracted people that are intellectual, are sharp, that are smart, that are focused, and that want to keep Nigeria together and at the same time treat every Nigerian…as one and as equals. That is what I find attractive in the new APC so…I will not die, I will live long and I will prosper because I make the right choices at the right time…’

Despite his assurance on making the right choice at the right time, it seems he might have said the wrong words at the wrong time and age where the internet never forgets.

♦ Favour Chiagozie Ebubechukwu is an Editorial  Staff Writer and columnist with the WAP