WHEN the less suspected politician begins to decamp to the ruling party, you can never tell who will be the next. Former Aviation Minister Chief Femi Fani Kayode on Thursday join the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). He added that he was instrumental to three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors decamping to the APC as he was formally presented to President Muhammadu Buhari as a member of the ruling party.
The former spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council was introduced to the president by the Governor of Yobe state and Chairman of the APC national caretaker committee, Mai Mala Buni and his Zamfara state counterpart, Bello Matawalle.
Fani-Kayode also revealed that he would joined the effort to woo the governors of Oyo, Bauchi and Enugu states, Seyi Makinde, Bala Mohammed and Ifeanyi Uguanyi respectively to also join the APC.
He explained that his move to the APC became pertinent to help Nigeria to survive the last two years of the present administration.
Asked why he joined the APC, the former minister, who famously declared that he would rather die than join the ruling party, stated: “Why not? The point is that I felt that this was the appropriate time to do the right thing, to put Nigeria first and to appreciate the efforts that have been made, particularly in the last couple of years in terms of security, fighting insurgency, fighting terrorism, and most importantly, it’s the appreciation of the fact that we must remain one as a nation, build bridges, work together to move the country forward.
“The efforts of the governor of Yobe State, the governor of Zamfara State and a number of others, including the governor of Kogi and a number of others in their respective states and in moving this country forward and helping Mr. President move this country forward, cannot be ignored.
“It’s very important for us to appreciate the fact that when we see that there are good things that are happening, we appreciate those good things. It’s not always negative and when the time is right, we change direction to join forces and join hands to move the country forward.
“Doing this doesn’t mean we’re enemies to anybody. All of us, even if we’re in another party, the PDP or any other party or any other group, we can still work together across party lines, regional lines, ethnic lines, and religious lines. The most important thing is for us to understand and appreciate the fact that Nigeria must not disintegrate and those that want us to end up fighting one another in a war will be put to shame.
“There are people that think like that and that is what informed me to come here to meet Mr. President. He was very gracious, he was very good to me today, spoke so well and it’s an honour for me to be here and we will move the country forward together.”
On how he thinks his former party, the PDP, would react to the defection, he said. “Well, that’s left to them. I have many friends in the PDP. If you remember, in 2013, I was actually one of those that formed the APC. There were a few issues and I went back to PDP, but I think it’s an individual thing. As a party, of course, they may not be too happy, but I have no enemies there and I have nothing negative to say about anybody there.
“I believe in moving the country forward together with everybody that believes in Nigeria and wants Nigeria to progress and I also believe that we must recognize the fact that there are two more years for this administration or thereabouts.
“We must come together to make sure we survive it, we must come together to make sure Nigeria is a better place and we must work together, regardless of party affiliation, but whatever they say, whatever they choose to say, is entirely up to them. I have many friends there, let’s hope that they don’t feel too bad about it. We’re all Nigerians.”