Chief Kayode Fayemi, former Ekiti State governor has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has lost its bearing and nosedived from the ideals upon which it was founded.
He warned that the increasing adoption of consensus arrangements in the party could cause internal crises if not properly managed.
Fayemi said this during an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo and aired on Thursday.
He noted that the APC no longer encourages robust internal debate, expressing fear over the conduct of party primaries across the country.
Fayemi argued that consensus arrangements are not inherently wrong, but they become problematic when party members are denied the opportunity to freely choose their candidates.
“I was very explicit that this is not where the party has come from; that we have lost our bearing, and we’ve lost the vision of the founding fathers of this party,” he said.
Also, he refuted allegations that he imposed a successor during his tenure as governor of Ekiti State, adding that the current governor emerged through a competitive primary election involving several aspirants.
“I didn’t impose anybody. There was a primary in my state that the current governor contested against at least six other candidates,” he said.
The former governor argued that having a preferred candidate was different from denying others the right to participate in a democratic process.
“I don’t think using influence or having a preference is necessarily a bad thing. What is bad is preventing people from exercising their franchise, and we did not do that,” he stated.
While drawing from his political experience, Fayemi said he had consistently subjected himself to party primaries despite occupying influential positions.
“Even as a former governor and serving minister who had just resigned from office, I was not coronated. I went to the field with another 20 aspirants,” he added.
He reiterated that genuine consensus could still be acceptable if all parties involved willingly agreed to it.
“I have no objection to it. However, I am a product of a democratic process, and I would always be on the side of the primary,” Mr Fayemi said.
Speaking on concerns that major political decisions within the APC are increasingly being controlled by a few powerful figures, the former governor acknowledged the challenge and warned of its implications.
“You know the danger of that? So those who don’t get that consensus, what do you think will happen? You think they will be happy?” he asked.
