Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has described the ongoing wave of political defections, mostly into the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as a congregation of “political sinners.
Dalung claimed that politicians are seeking refuge and not joining the ruling party out of a belief in the party or President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.
Naijaonpoint reports that Dalung, who spoke to journalists on Sunday, dismissed the narrative that the defection trend signifies approval of the APC’s performance, insisting instead that the defectors are opportunists looking to cleanse their tainted records.
He said, “These are people who have committed heinous crimes against the Nigerian people and they are jumping into the APC ship for the forgiveness of their sins.
“Not that they believe in Tinubu, no; they do not. They are only assembling so that their sins will be forgiven.”
Referencing former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Dalung said the former APC chairman had openly declared that politicians’ sins would be forgiven once they joined the ruling party.
“It is a conclave of political cardinals who have committed grave sins against the Nigerian people and a political party has offered them the opportunity of forgiveness on entrance,” Dalung stated.
He further warned that these defectors could eventually trigger internal crises within the APC.
He stated, “You know there is an adage in Hausa that if animals celebrate the death of a butcher, has the knife also died?
“If beneficiaries of the mandate of the people are defecting, have the people also defected? There is no value added to Tinubu except that he has compounded the situation in his party, and there will be an implosion.”
El-Rufai In SDP Not A Threat To Adebayo – Dalung
Addressing speculations that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, could challenge Adewole Adebayo’s dominance in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dalung dismissed such concerns as unfounded.
He described Adebayo as the most prominent figure in the party since the days of the late MKO Abiola.
“After Chief MKO Abiola, you rank Adebayo in the contemporary SDP as the highest. Nobody has promoted the SDP in Nigeria like Adebayo,” he said.
Dalung said Adebayo’s consistent media advocacy against the current administration’s failures had made him a household name.
“So whether you mobilize the whole politicians into the SDP, you must resolve the question of Adebayo in the SDP as a presidential candidate before any other person,” he said.
He hailed Adebayo as a selfless patriot, adding, “So, he is a force to beat in whatever political arrangement that the SDP will put on ground to produce a presidential candidate. He is a patriot who did not join politics for himself; he has surrendered the rest of his life to the service of humanity and he did that at his 50th birthday.
“So, he is not into politics because it must be him; he is into politics to ensure that good governance, justice, the rule of law, equity and fairness is reintroduced and reinforced in the governance structure of Nigeria. So, even if he lost in a free, fair, and transparent electoral process, he will still be a team player in the struggle for a better Nigeria.”
On the SDP’s involvement in ongoing opposition coalition talks, Dalung noted that while he could not speak on behalf of the party, he was aware that meetings had taken place.
He said, “This question will better be answered by the leadership of the party because I can only speak from the perspective as somebody who is aware of the development in the coalition. I am aware that the coalition delegation met with the SDP leadership but I am yet to get the details of that discussion. I think that will be made public in due course but like I said earlier, I may not be able to say much about that.”