Fani-Kayode: 'I was led by God to join APC'

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who once said he'd rather die than join the All Progressives Congress (APC), says God has led him back to the political party he once labelled Almajiri Peoples Congress.

"To God be his Glory and blessed be his holy name.

"A lot has changed over the last six years and it is important that we make the right choices and the right decisions at the right time, precisely if we feel as if we are being led by God to make those choices," Fani-Kayode said, moments after his unveiling as an APC signing by President Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, September 16, 2021.

Fani-Kayode once described the APC as a "filthy, rat-infested sinking ship" and a "bloodthirsty, blood-lusting, accursed political association of Boko Haramists and Fulani herdsmen, genocidal maniacs, ethnic cleansers and mass murderers."

He had also said: "The PDP is my party, I would never leave the party. Until Kingdom comes, until Jesus returns, I will never join the APC."

In recent times, Fani-Kayode had also gone on air to heavily criticize Buhari and call the president unprintable names.

Buhari, Fani-Kayode had said, "locked people up, he crated people, he killed people, carried people from the streets of London, turned Nigeria into a pariah nation...a man that looted PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund)…Buhari is very corrupt, he is a man that committed so many atrocities. This man destroyed the lives of so many people."

On what he now thinks of President Buhari and the APC after his defection on Thursday, Fani-Kayode said: “I spoke against Buhari from the outside, now I know him from the inside. I am not saying he is an angel or a demon.

"The APC I was talking about that time is not same today. Let’s focus on unity, peace and togetherness.

“There is a time to condemn and criticize people. There is also a time to come together, work together to achieve unity.”

Responding to a question on his remark that he would rather die than join the APC, the lawyer said: “Joining APC now is the away forward, despite what people may think about it.

“APC is a liberal party. A lot has happened in APC over the years. The party has changed and the president has accommodated the change. Had the APC leadership not changed I wouldn’t have joined them.

“I am doing the right thing based on conviction and understanding. This is the right decision for me, love me or hate me, it will not take anything away from me.”

Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesperson of the PDP presidential campaign council in 2015, was led into the president’s office by the Caretaker Chairman of the APC and Governor of Yobe, Mai-Mala Buni, as well as Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara.