Perception We Had About Buhari In The Past Is Clearly Wrong – Says Fani-Kayode After Joining APC

By Msyosi On Sep 17, 2021

Former Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, on Thursday said he was wrong about some of his criticisms of Muhammadu Buhari administration in the past.

In 2019, while reacting to rumours of his defection, Fani-Kayode, a former chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and strong critic of the President, had said he would rather die than join the ruling party.

However, on Thursday, Fani-Kayode was presented to Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja — present at the event was Mai Mala Buni, chairman, caretaker committee of the APC and governor of Yobe.

Speaking about his decision, Fani-Kayode, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, attributed his actions in the past to the fact that he did not know the President so well at the time.

The former minister said the leadership of APC has changed over the years, adding that the current party leadership under Buni is more accommodating.

He expressed;

It is absolutely clear to me that the perception that we had in the past, that many people had, is clearly wrong. We can work together, we can come together, we can build bridges, we can effect unity in this country.

A man that I believe would not listen to anybody else in the past, I was quite wrong on that. With his receptive ears, his reception, and those around him; I have seen that definitely this is a man that one can work with provided you go through the right channels.

According to him, he criticised the President in the past and done that effectively when he felt it was appropriate to do so.

Fani-Kayode stressed;

However, having moved closer to him (Buhari) over the last few months, I have discovered a lot of things that I did not know before; there is a lot going on behind the scenes.

The most important thing is this – if I believe in a certain philosophy or I believe that we should move in a certain direction, and I am getting positive responses when I act from within the family as it were, and do so behind closed doors and ensure that change is effected in terms of policy, the way in which the country is run, the way in which disputes are settled among our various people and in terms of war against terror, and I get positive results on the consequence of my personal contributions at various levels; then I have to respect that.

Over the last few years, I spoke against him (Buhari) probably more than anybody else in this country. I am not saying Mr President is an angel and I am certainly not saying he is a demon; I am saying he is a man like every other man.

Despite moving to the APC, the former minister insisted that he would never change in terms of his core values and principles.

He vowed to carry such core values and principles into the ruling party and owed nobody an apology for taking such a decision.