Ahead of the 2027 general election, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr. Abubakar Malami, has dismissed claims by Nasarawa State former governor, Tanko Al-Makura, his Katsina counterpart, Aminu Masari, and other members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc of All Progressives Congress (APC) have agreed to remain in the APC and support President Bola Tinubu’s second term ambition.
The legal expert stated that the opinions expressed by the former governors and other chieftains during the declaration were personal and do not represent the bloc under Buhari’s leadership.
Malami said that the CPC bloc, which was led to form the APC by the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, would make its decision on Tinubu’s second term and defection from the party known publicly, saying it is not the duty of the former governors to take a decision on their behalf without consultations.
The former minister, who spoke through his media aide, Muhammed Doka, on Friday, alleged that the declaration made on behalf of the bloc was a strategy by the former governors and others to gain relevance within the APC.
“When you say CPC bloc, one needs to know who they are referring to. Is it the likes of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Adamu Adamu, Aminu Masari and Adamu Aliyu who, a few months ago had been throwing Buhari under the bus, in desperate attempts to gain relevance that should decide for the bloc?”, he added.
On his rumoured defection to the Social Democracy Party (SDP) Malami dismissed it as figments of the imagination of those peddling the rumour.
He added that his status required that his defection, if made, would not be done secretly since the decision to form the APC was not done behind closed doors before the 2015 general election in the country.
The former minister, meanwhile, noted that a broad consultations with different political platforms were ongoing to determine whether to remain in the APC or defect to another vibrant party.
The communique released on the defection reads: ‘’We, the undersigned leaders and committed members of the former CPC, who were part of those instrumental in the historic merger that gave birth to the APC, hereby issue this statement to clarify our unalloyed loyalty to our great party and express firm solidarity with the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“Recent misleading narrative suggesting a defection or disaffection among CPC stakeholders are false, misleading and should be ignored. We remain integral to the APC and are fully aligned with its leadership.’’
