Fani-Kayode: I Joined APC to Save Nigeria from Another Civil War
By Kabir Akintayo
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said the love of country and the need to save Nigeria from sliding into civil war was his reason for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In an interview on AIT, monitored by Politics Digest, the former Minister said contrary to popular beliefs, he joined the ruling party to be able to join hands with fellow patriots to steer the ship of state from the brink of collapse to the path of stability and progress.
He said such patriots as the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, and Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, were great Nigerians whose passion for the good of the nation attracted him to the party.
He specifically said Governor Bello reached out to him on a very delicate security issue that threatened the country’s peace and the two of them were able to nip it in the bud, hence the beginning of a good relationship.
He said: “There is a difference between being a politician and being a statesman. It gets to a point that you have got to appreciate the fact that if you play politics without any ideology, you will continue to raise the temperature, raise the bar, and you see that you are heading for the cleavage and you need to retrace your steps.
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“We need to check our rhetoric, we need to ensure we build bridges for the sustenance of our unity. It is okay if you believe in self determination, it is
alright, you can have that view. Many people have that view, to some extent, I have that view. You must not however say and do what will lead to violence, that is something I will never support.”
The former Minister who had been a fierce critic of President Muhammadu Buhari and Pantami, said he chose to turn a new leaf when he met a couple of APC bigwigs who promised to address some of the issues he raised in his criticisms and promote national unity in words and action.
“I have been on the national scene for almost 30 years now, I have been writing, commenting and I have been a politician for almost 40 years. In the course of that time, I have had differences with so many people, different opinions, sometimes I speak harshly sometimes I don’t. I can change my position based on what I have now discovered.
“When it comes to the issue of President Buhari, it was never anything personal, I had differences with him on a number of issues during the 2015 elections and after that time, a number of policy issues, policy differences. I stood my ground and I spoke truth to power courageously unlike most people. When it became clear to me that he wasn’t quite like that, I decided to beat a retreat… The first thing that happened which impressed me immensely was the fact that many of the APC governors that I had to interact with were very accommodating and friendly to me.
“They opened their doors and we spoke from the heart to one another, I told them my disagreement with what was going on in the country and why I opposed the government. I later became engrossed with a different perspective, so I said instead of vilifying and closing doors, let’s talk, let’s find a way in which we can accommodate one another which is why we are together. And all of this would not have happened without President Buhari giving the go-ahead,” he said.