Former Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Political Matters, Hakeem Baba Ahmed, has described the ruling All Progressives Congress APC as a party that is detached from ordinary Nigerians and driven mainly by those in power.
Baba Ahmed made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, where he argued that the dominance of the APC across many states does not translate into genuine popular support.
He said, “I’m afraid my thinking is quite different. People tend to think that because the APC has almost all the states, it has the country. No, it doesn’t.
“Governors, Senators, members of House of Representatives have all defected from their original party into the APC.
“The APC is the party that is dominant in the country, yet, it is very far away from the people. You have to ask yourself ‘what’s the phenomenal behind this’? As we speak, we have over 20 governors in the APC.
“The APC is a party of the office holder, it’s not necessarily the party of the people. There’s a difference between the two.”
He maintained that the party’s growing numerical strength is largely a product of political defections by elected officials rather than broad based grassroots appeal, warning that equating control of political offices with popular legitimacy could be misleading.
Baba Ahmed’s comments add to ongoing debates about party dominance, internal democracy, and the widening gap between political elites and citizens in Nigeria’s democratic process.
