Cracks in APC as Former ANPP Members Threaten to Exit Over Marginalisation

A group of former members of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has threatened to pull out of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing years of neglect by both the Buhari and Tinubu administrations.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday, National Coordinator of the association, Prof. Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, said the former ANPP bloc had been sidelined in the APC’s power-sharing arrangements since the party’s formation in 2013.

The APC was formed through a merger between the ANPP, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which led to the historic defeat of the PDP in the 2015 elections. But according to Ajumbe, only the CPC and ACN have benefitted from the alliance since then.

“The CPC bloc held power for eight years under Buhari. The ACN bloc now has the presidency. We, the ANPP bloc, have been pushed aside. That is not what we agreed,” he said.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to address the issue, saying the president may not be aware of how the ANPP bloc has been excluded from appointments and other privileges in the APC-led government.

To avoid a possible exodus, Ajumbe called for urgent political compensation, including the appointment of ANPP loyalists as ministers, ambassadors, board chairmen, and heads of government agencies. He also demanded that the bloc be considered for the vice presidential slot in 2027.

“Fairness and equity demand that our President hand over power to the ANPP bloc when his tenure ends in 2031,” he added.

The group said it would soon begin consultations across states and zones to inform members of their next move.