APC drifting from founding vision – Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, former Ekiti State governor, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is gradually losing the ideals and democratic culture on which it was founded, warning that the increasing adoption of consensus arrangements could spark a crisis within the party.

Fayemi spoke during an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo, where he expressed concern over the conduct of APC primaries and the shrinking space for internal debate.

He said consensus candidacy is only acceptable when it emerges voluntarily and does not deprive party members of their right to freely choose candidates.

“This is not where the party has come from. We have lost our bearings and the vision of the founding fathers of this party,” he said.

The former governor also rejected claims that he imposed a successor during his administration in Ekiti State, insisting that the current governor emerged through a transparent and competitive primary election.

“I didn’t impose anybody. There was a primary in my state in which the current governor contested against at least six other candidates,” he stated.

Fayemi argued that having a preferred aspirant was not the same as preventing others from participating in the democratic process.

Reflecting on his own political journey, Fayemi said he had always subjected himself to party primaries despite his status within the APC.

“Even as a former governor and serving minister who had just resigned from office, I still contested alongside about 20 aspirants,” he said.

He warned that sidelining aspirants through imposed consensus arrangements could breed resentment and deepen divisions within the ruling party.