A former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, says he prays that the All Progressives Congress does not break up due to its friction with Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Okupe, who was a staunch critic of the APC during the last electioneering, said although he remained a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, anything that affects the APC will affect Nigeria as a whole. Okupe said this in a Facebook post on Thursday.
He warned that the trial of Saraki at the Code of Conduct Trial over alleged corruption could lead to a national tragedy. He said, “I did in the past predict that the APC will break up, but that was before the APC formed the government. Now that they are in government, it is not in my interest or that of any reasonable or patriotic Nigerian to wish that they break up.
“A break up of the APC now has the capacity to undermine the current political process and the entire political dispensation we are passing through to the detriment of the country and the innocent masses. “But what is currently going on is ominous and dangerous and will require wisdom and extreme tact from all the dramatis personae, remembering always that an ill wind does not blow anyone any good.”
Okupe said such a crisis was what usually led to coups in the past.
He, however, argued that Nigerians should not see the trial of Saraki as a ‘soap opera’ but as a bad omen for democracy. He added, “To ordinary watchers of Nigerian politics, the ongoing ordeal of the Senate President may be an interesting soap opera. But to more discerning minds, it is nothing short of a tragic comedy.
“Over the years, Nigerian politicians fail over and over again to convince anybody that they actually learnt anything from our chequered political history. This is why we have had many republics in our national history.
“Winston Churchill said the failure to act when action would have been simple and effective, lack of good reasoning, and confusion of counsel, all these lead to endless repetition of history.” The former presidential spokesman said he was not a friend of Saraki because he (Saraki) dumped the PDP in 2014 and contributed to the failure of the party during the last elections.
He, therefore, noted that he was in no way protecting Saraki but the overall interest of Nigerians He said, “I am personally not a supporter of Dr. Saraki and for good reason. He spearheaded the demolition of the PDP and the eventual catastrophic electoral misfortune of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency. Neither am I a detractor of the Senate President.” Punchng
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