May 17, (THEWILL) – A former Presidential aspirant under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Garba, has dumped the party for the Young Progressive Party (YPP).
Garba, on Tuesday obtained the presidential expression of interest and nomination forms of the YPP.
He had exited the ruling party in indignation, stating that the APC had turned its nomination process into a business venture. He had described the N100m Presidential nomination and expression of interest forms of the party as outrageous.
“I see this (fee) as an outrageous and unnecessary way of getting money for the party. They have turned it into a business venture and it is unacceptable. They don’t consider your capacity or what you’ve done for the development of the party.
“I’ve consulted widely and I’ll not be consulting because I’ll not get money from well-wishers and still go-ahead to purchase forms at such an outrageous fee. I’m against financialising the political space in the country because I don’t want us to set a bad precedent that will make it difficult for the youth and the poor candidates to contest in an election”, he had stated..
Speaking with reporters in Abuja after picking his YPP form at the party’s national secretariat on Tuesday, Garba said he desired to create a “new Nigeria” by correcting the country’s foundation, adding that the youth have no future in the APC or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said, “The youth don’t have a future in the APC or PDP. I was a strong member of the PDP in 1999, in 2003 we moved to ANPP and in 2007 we came to PDP and stayed till 2014 when APC founded and we moved.
“I have even been a very loyal and committed member of the party (APC) and even aspired to contest for the presidency under the same APC in 2019.
“For me to come here and tell the whole world that the future of young people lies with YPP, I think there should be no credible person [like me] to say so because I have identified strongly with the party, fought for the party and get insulted for it but all the young people in the party are mushroomed, packed and dustbined maybe we are waiting for them to set fire on them but we will not be burnt.
“We are bringing a new deal. A vision that will go to the foundation and reset for the Nigerian state. The reason why we have been failing consistently in this country is because the foundation is faulty.
“The system was established at the point of division – that makes us see each other as different people whereas we share the same geography.”
Garba will contest against Malik Ado-Ibrahim, another presidential hopeful, for the party’s ticket.
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