The Men Behind APC.

Hope For Nigeria

By Ayo Akinfe, United Kingdom

**2015 ELECTION**
The Men Behind APC.

''10 characters whose presence in the APC makes talk of the party being "progressive" an insult to our collective intelligence''

[1] Ahmed Yerima: Senator, Zamfara West
He needs no introduction. Apart from the fact that he introduced Sharia law into the country and wants to take us back to 50AD, he is a well known paedophile. He not only married a 13-year old girl but recently sponsored a bill making child marriage legal in the senate.

[2] Abdulazzi Yari: Zamfara State governor
He owns a $2m mansion in Abuja and after the minimum wage bill was passed boasted that he would not honour it, saying that none of Nigeria's 19 northern states could afford to pay their staff N18,000 a month.

[3] Yusuf Datti Ahmed: Senator Kaduna North
This man is probably the moist right wing senator we have in Nigeria today. During the debate on gay rights, he said that all homosexuals should be executed.

[4] Farouk Adamu Aliyu: Former minority leader of the House of Representatives Jigawa State
I do not know of any Nigerian who opposes resource control as much as this man. He once warned Niger Deltans to stop laying claims to oil found on their land as it also belongs to northern Nigeria. Aliyu who described Goodluck Jonathan as an ungrateful president said he has showed more interest on issues affecting the Ijaws ahead of those affecting all Nigerians. He also once said that it is either we have a northerner as president in 2015 or there will be no more Nigeria.

[5] Tom Ikimi: Former foreign minister
He was Abacha's henchman who served as the dictators international mouthpiece. It was Ikimi who justified the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and sold Abacha as a reforming president who executed common criminals like Ikimi as part of his plans to clean up the Niger Delta.

[6] Bola Tinubu: Former Lagos State governor
This is a man who sees himself as an ayatollah. He has no respect for the democratic process, does not believe in primary elections and appoints people into key positions based on whose face he likes. He removed the Action Congress's best senator Olorunnimbe Mamora and replaced him with his wife as the senator for Lagos East. He also recently appointed his daughter as the leader of the Lagos Market Women's Association to replace his mother who passed away.

[7] Adamu Aliero: Former Kebbi State governor
He is probably the biggest political prostitute ever in the history of Nigeria. Elected as an ANPP governor in 1999, he served two terms then in 2008 he defected to the PDP. After changing parties, he served as a PDP senator, then as FCT minister and was part of the cabal that held the nation to ransom when President Yar'Adua was ill. He was one of those who smuggled the body into Nigeria in the middle of the night for which President Goodluck Jonathan duly sacked him. He then defected to the CPC. No doubt if the PDP beats the CPC in 2015, he is likely to change parties again

[8] Mohammed Abacha: CPC Kano State governorship candidate
Yes, this same Mohammed Abacha who is celebrating the release of his friend Hamza Al-Mustapha over his getting away with the murder of Kudirat which they planned together. As we al know, Mohammed himself got away with murder some years ago and now he must be delighted his pal has too. In 2011, it was Mohammed who won the CPC governorship primary in Kano State and the party lost the election because they removed him, fearful of the impact his presence would have on Buhari's candidacy in other parts of the country. Mohammed is still the APC biggest beast in Kano State and as they want to win come 2015, I see him playing a significant role.

[9] Mahmud Kanti Bello: Former senator, Katsina North
This man hold a record in Nigeria for being a senator for six-and-a-half years without passing one private members bill. He became a senator in 2003 under the PDP and was re-elected in 2007 but later decamped and joined the CPC. In discussion over the proposed bill to control desertification, senator Bello strongly opposed Senator Grace Folashade Bent, chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, who wanted to include other environmental issues in the bill.

[10] Kayode Fayemi: Ekiti State governor
I used to rate this man very highly until recently when one of his opponents Bamidele Opeyemi decided he wanted to run against him and has faced all sorts of problems, including death threats. Is that the kind of democracy we want to see in Nigeria? In a genuine democratic party, people pick forms, fill them and primaries are held after a campaign.

Now ask yourselves if these guys are any better than the PDP criminals currently in power? As Barack Obama said: "We know change when we see it and this ain't it. If you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig." - Hope For Nigeria.