Defection: APC fires Tambuwal over ‘stomach infrastructure’ comments

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has fired back at former governor of Sokoto state and Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, describing him as a “stomach-directed politician” without conscience.

The APC’s response came after Tambuwal criticized the recent wave of defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, attributing them to “stomach infrastructure” rather than genuine political ideology.

In a statement Sunday in Abuja by the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party lambasted Tambuwal for his comments, saying the former governor’s own history of political defections exposes his hypocrisy.

The APC highlighted Tambuwal’s notorious record of party-hopping, tracing his political journey from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) in 2007, back to the ANPP, then to the PDP, and later to the APC in 2014, only to return to the PDP in 2018. The party argued that Tambuwal’s “itinerant defections” were driven by self-serving motives rather than any principled stance.

“By his own assertions, Tambuwal’s defections were in chase of ‘stomach infrastructure,’ purely self-serving and without conscience,” Morka stated.

“A wandering politician like Tambuwal lacks the moral turpitude to comment on the intentions of others.”

The APC dismissed Tambuwal’s claims that defectors lacked conscience, asserting that politicians joining the party were motivated by President Bola Tinubu’s bold economic reforms and the PDP’s internal crisis.

The party said many defectors had cited Tinubu’s leadership and the PDP’s decline as reasons for their move.

“Contrary to Tambuwal’s jibe, members of the PDP are joining the APC to identify with President Tinubu’s transformative agenda,” Morka said. “The PDP is in a state of bedlam and is now an unrecognizable shadow of its former self.”

The APC also pointed to Nigeria’s recent economic milestones under Tinubu’s administration, including surpassing the OPEC oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day, consistent trade surpluses, increased Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), and a thriving stock market. These achievements, the party argued, were evidence of a resurgent Nigeria and a testament to the success of Tinubu’s policies.

“Instead of begrudging citizens for exercising their fundamental freedom of association, Tambuwal and his fellow political villains, like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, should accept responsibility for the PDP’s collapse,” Morka added.

The APC urged Tambuwal and other PDP leaders to apologize to their members for the party’s decline and to adopt a more humble and penitent approach moving forward.

The party emphasized that the PDP’s internal strife and lack of direction were the real reasons for the defections, not “stomach infrastructure.

“Tambuwal and his cohorts should focus on rebuilding their fractured party rather than making baseless accusations,” Morka concluded.