Boroffice: Why APC is Closing its Doors to Defectors

An All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart and Chairman, Senate Committee on Science Technology, Prof. Robert Ajayi Boroffice, has stated that the party is closing its doors to defectors from other parties because of the likelihood of an over bloated party that could weaken the party’s chances of high performances at the various levels.

It was on this basis of this, he said the Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, advised defectors to stay put in their parties to form a formidable opposition that would make the ruling party work harder for the people thereby moving the country forward.

In an interview he granted THISDAY over the weekend in Abuja, the Senator representing Ondo North Senatorial district, who was re-elected in the March 28 polls said the party aligned itself with the declaration of the chairman that politicians from the other parties should form a formidable opposition just as the APC did to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

On the country gravitating towards a one-party state as a result of the recent elections, he said: “Well it is just the attitude of most Nigerians, who cannot stay in opposition because of what they think that they are going to get from government. I’m happy that Oyegun has advised people from the other party to stay in their party and formed a formidable opposition.

“We don’t want a bloated party APC for every Dick and Harry and you now have all sorts of dilution that would weaken the performance of the party. I’m happy that the chairman of the party has advised the politicians from other parties to stay in their parties and build a formidable opposition. And that was what we did in APC and we were able to build a formidable opposition”

He said some of them were then been induced to join PDP with rosy offers, but they refused. “Even my seat was being threatened, yet I refused to remain in opposition. People should be courageous and have a definite ideology about life. When you opt to be a member of a political party because it is the ruling party, then it is fraud,” he said.

Boroffice said APC leaders know how to weed out those who would add value to the party, adding, this scenario happened when the party was being formed then. “Some of these people will not be technically accepted into the party even though they are called APC members. I can assure that the screening net of the party will definitely exclude some of them so that they come in come to dilute what has taken some years to build,” he stated.