Governor denied me APC ticket for exposing banditry, says Kebbi senator

Garba Maidoki, representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, has alleged that he was denied a return ticket for the All Progressive Congress 2027 elections because he consistently raised concerns about insecurity and bandit attacks in Kebbi State.

Maidoki made the allegation on Tuesday while announcing his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accusing governors across political parties of hijacking party structures and undermining internal democracy.

Maidoki specifically linked his political troubles to his repeated calls for action against banditry and insecurity in Kebbi State.

“What is my fault in Kebbi? I stood up here in the Senate to tell Nigerians to assist us, that bandits are killing us. Suddenly, the governor thought I was fighting him.

“I have never fought the governor. I have nothing against him. But my people that sent me here asked me to cry, and I cried. They appreciate it. So what is there?

“From day one, they had already decided that they cannot control me. I have never fought anybody. All I want is for the dividends of democracy to reach my people.”

The senator also used the occasion to criticise the implementation of the federal budget under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying Nigerians were facing severe economic hardship.

“Three years since Tinubu’s government. The budget has not been implemented. He has never implemented a budget. How does a country run without a budget or selective financing of projects?

“We have borrowed and borrowed and borrowed. Where is the money we are borrowing? All the revenue-generating agencies in this country told us they have exceeded their targets. Where is the money going?”

While expressing respect for the president, Maidoki urged him to address what he described as growing governance and implementation challenges.

“If anybody is telling President Tinubu — and I have utmost respect for him as a nationalist and a gentleman — if anybody is telling him all is well, it’s lies.

“The earlier he makes an effort to correct these imbalances, particularly on the implementation of the budget, the better for him. Otherwise, wallahi, he will live to regret this.

“Nigerians are suffering. Nigerians are complaining. As a father, we want him to listen to the voices of Nigerians. Whoever is telling him otherwise is lying to him.

“We will continue to give him good advice, but taking good advice is his prerogative.”

The senator said the practice of imposing candidates through consensus arrangements had weakened democracy and disenfranchised ordinary party members.

“You will agree with me that what they call primary and consensus is not limited to APC alone.

“In almost all the political parties, it is just an arrangement where kingmakers put their stooges to the detriment of ordinary Nigerians,” he said.

According to him, he joined the APC in good faith after winning the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hoping to support the federal government’s development agenda.

“We joined APC in good faith and we did everything to promote One Nigeria and to align our resources and effort with that of the federal government so that the dividends of democracy can reach our people.

“We also joined because the party that we contested and won, mind you, we didn’t win under APC. I won my election under PDP, so I’m used to contesting elections under opposition.

“But unfortunately, when we came to the Senate, the PDP suddenly disintegrated and did not give us any direction.”

He said the conduct of party primaries left him disappointed, alleging that state governors ensured that only loyalists emerged as candidates.

“Having done the party primaries, the leaders, particularly the state governors, only their loyalists or their stooges were given tickets. All efforts to make a semblance of primaries so that Nigerians can see democracy at work were abandoned.

“If you lose at the party primaries, so be it. You have no one else to complain to.

“But allow party members to nominate candidates. Alas, it was just a charade. It was not done.”

Maidoki said the development had left him and many others feeling betrayed.

“We felt betrayed that despite our best effort that, democracy can work in this country, unfortunately, the fate of democracy in Nigeria is at a very, very comatose stage. But we will not give up.”

The lawmaker disclosed that he had accepted the ADC platform after the party’s initial senatorial candidate voluntarily offered him the ticket.

“We will go and contest under a different banner, and I’ve joined the ADC. The person who was given the ticket, who won the primaries for ADC nomination, called me and said, ‘Oga, I know they will not give you a ticket. Come, I will surrender my ticket to you.’

“I felt touched by this magnanimity because I am with my people. I am with the grassroots. I am not with the people who wear agbada and collect money in the course of politics.”

Speaking on the political situation in Kebbi South, Maidoki argued that voters were increasingly rejecting what he described as external interference in local political decisions.

“It might interest you that a by-election was held in Kebbi State just last weekend for the House of Assembly. In my own constituency, we have 80,000 registered voters, but only 4,000 people turned out to vote.

“My people are with me. We have no doubt. One of the issues, particularly for Kebbi South, is that I find it difficult that people of Kebbi Central, particularly Birnin Kebbi, think they can sit down in Birnin Kebbi and decide who contests even for councillors in Zuru and Yauri local governments.

“From day one, we said we will not accept this, and I find this challenge unbearable for them to accept. Tomorrow, when the election is done, they will see the result in their naked eyes.”

The senator warned that continued erosion of democratic processes could provoke public backlash.

“We are happy that up to now this democracy has not been truncated. But we are afraid that if it continues this way, it is not the military that will truncate democracy; it is the ordinary people on the street.”