Former Governor of Jigawa State and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Sule Lamido, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a party founded on resentment and opportunism, not on ideology or national interest.
In Chapter 16, page 421 of his newly launched autobiography, “Being True To Myself,” unveiled on May 13, Lamido offered a blistering critique of the APC, stating that the party was never a serious political organisation.
“I once had cause to explain to some members of the public after the APC was formed, that it was created out of anger, malice and hatred,” Lamido wrote.
“It was not, and has never been, a serious political party; its proponents were only parochial scavengers, who see politics as a huge enterprise.”
Recalling the events leading up to the 2015 elections, Lamido said he was stunned when his colleagues in the PDP chose to defect to what he described as “the contraption” that became the APC. He immediately distanced himself from the decision.
He traced APC’s origins to a merger of political elements that had previously lost elections, stating:
“In 1999, we had the PDP, AD, and APP as the three major national parties. The AD and APP fielded Olu Falae against Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP. After losing, the AD/APP alliance faded into the ANPP. It was these same elements that regrouped to form the APC.”
Lamido also challenged the moral branding of the APC around former President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he said was portrayed as “Mr. Integrity” to manipulate public perception.
“Before Buhari came into the scene, Nigeria had leaders with proven integrity—Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Aminu Kano, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and General Murtala Mohammed.
Unfortunately, Buhari himself came to believe the false praises of integrity he was being fed by political promoters.”
The former governor said Buhari never publicly acknowledged the legacies of true icons like Aminu Kano or Murtala Mohammed—even during political rallies in their respective regions.
Despite internal crises rocking the PDP at the time, Lamido said he rejected multiple invitations to defect to the APC, choosing instead to remain and help reform his party.
“I believed the honourable path was to stay and be part of the solution, not to jump ship when the waters got rough,” he wrote.
