Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who represents Abia South Senatorial District, has firmly rejected any possibility of defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), claiming that many politicians publicly backing President Bola Tinubu cannot openly canvass votes for him in their home communities.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TheNigerialawyer-WhatsApp-Channel1.jpg")
Abaribe made the assertion on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he dismissed the APC’s show of strength across states and political offices as disconnected from popular sentiment.
Recalling a discussion about the APC’s control of several levels of government, the senator said the real test of political support lies at the grassroots. He cited a question previously posed by former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, to underscore his point.
“I come from Aba. I was discussing that the APC has this government and that government, and people were a little worried, and I asked one of them a question. In fact, that question was asked by Governor Peter Obi. He asked one of them, he said, this Abaribe here, will he go to Ariaria market and tell them to vote for Bola Tinubu? He can’t try it.”
“Most of the people saying they are supporting Tinubu cannot go to their homes and say it. They can’t, why? Because they would be stoned when they go to say such a thing,” he added.
The lawmaker also expressed confidence that President Tinubu would be defeated in the 2027 general election, insisting that the president did not secure a genuine victory in the 2023 polls.
“Tinubu will lose in the 2027 election; he never won in 2023,” Abaribe said. “We are going to meet him in the field, and we will see how he will couple together that thing that will make him win again; it won’t work.”
When asked hypothetically what he would say if President Tinubu invited him to join the APC, Senator Abaribe outlined several stringent conditions:
“I will give him all the conditions and he can fulfill it. First of all, you must reverse all your policies? All the policies that punish Nigerians, you reverse them. That is number one. Number 2, you cut down your government. Number 3, you rein in all the people around you. Number 4, there are so many things I will tell him. It’s up to him what he’s going to do. You don’t run a government the way it is wrong. This is not a monarchy, this is a democracy,” he stated.
When pressed on who could be a better alternative to President Tinubu, Senator Abaribe did not hesitate to endorse former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi.
“There are too many Nigerians who are democratic, who can run this country, who can do the best for them,” he said. When the interviewer mentioned Peter Obi specifically, Abaribe responded: “He just took it out of my mouth. Yes, is he your candidate? He will be my candidate.”
“All of us are going somewhere and when we get there, then we cross that hurdle. But the point is, when you look at somebody’s antecedent, you look at how the person carries himself. Throughout, Peter Obi was governor. Did you ever hear about his children? Did you ever hear about his wife?” he asked rhetorically.
Abaribe criticized what he described as a “KBC government” (King Bola Court government), saying: “The president can do no wrong, anything that he says, oh we agree, anything. No, that’s not how you run a government. You run a government by people challenging your views. Right now, any view challenging the view of government is seen as treason.”
He also dismissed the popular “On Your Mandate” song associated with the Tinubu administration, saying: “I’ve never sung it and I will never sing it. When they bring the budget to the National Assembly, we stand up for the Nigerian national anthem. And then the ‘On Your Mandate’ song. If people decide to play it, check where I sit down. I don’t follow them.”
On the wave of defections to the APC, Senator Abaribe predicted that it would ultimately lead to the party’s collapse.
“The governor of Taraba only yesterday defected, from Delta to Enugu, from Enugu to Bayelsa. I mean, people are defecting every day. And you saw what happened on the floor. Half of those people you see in the majority party are hurting inside and they are asking us, ‘Do quick and give us the leeway, where will we move?'”
“I’m telling you that this collection of all manners of people into the APC is what will lead to its downfall. And it will. At a particular point, I think PDP was how many states? 28 states out of 36. And everybody said, oh, it was all over. And even the PDP chairman at that time said we’re going to rule forever. Where are they today? It will happen,” he added.
Senator Abaribe expressed strong criticism of the government’s economic management, particularly regarding budget implementation.
“The whole of 2025 will not be implemented in 2025, and somebody now gets up and tells you, ‘Oh, the government, their economic managers, they’re doing so well.’ I mean, the evidence is clear in front of every Nigerian that they are not economic managers, but they are economically illiterate. Only manufacturing figures to use to confuse the public.”
When asked to describe the Tinubu economic approach, he responded: “I’m as much confused as you because we sit down, we get a budget, and then we are all running around like a headless chicken. You don’t know exactly what is going on.”
On the issue of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, Senator Abaribe called for equal treatment of all citizens, questioning why the government negotiates with terrorists but keeps Kanu imprisoned.
“Even the governor of my state, who is also his governor, has said that he has also initiated [efforts]. And those of us, too, who are in the political scene, we’re also doing our best politically to see that we can get him.”
“Part of this agitation, every time they say, ‘Oh, Igbos, they’re always complaining.’ No, it is because they see unequal treatment. You see government people talking with the real terrorists who are killing people. But then, ‘It’s an Igbo man, throw him in jail, let him not…’ It is this unequal treatment that we are telling the government. You swore an oath to treat every citizen equally,” he stated.
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