APC Now Run by Cronies, Not Politicians — Ex-NOA DG Abari 

Former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Garba Abari, has delivered a scathing assessment of the state of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), warning that the party has lost its founding ideals and is now dominated by vested interests rather than genuine political leadership. Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television […]

Former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Garba Abari, has delivered a scathing assessment of the state of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), warning that the party has lost its founding ideals and is now dominated by vested interests rather than genuine political leadership.

Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Friday, Abari expressed deep concern over what he described as the erosion of internal democracy and party cohesion.

“The party is no longer run by politicians. The party is just run by cronies. Here is a party that is afraid of its own shadows and its own internal processes,” he said.

Abari noted that the APC, which emerged from a historic merger of political blocs, has failed to consolidate on its early successes, leading to a gradual weakening of its structure and influence.

“I am very worried [about the situation in APC], for two reasons. We have failed to consolidate on our victory. So, the successes that we recorded, before our very eyes, we saw them being eroded,” he stated.

He further argued that the party has become increasingly disconnected from governance, lacking the synergy required to align party ideology with government actions at all levels.

“We have a political party that does not seem to be in sync with government. And therefore, what the party initially was conceived to be—meaning what the APC would have stood for after the merger—is no longer what the party is today,” Abari added.

According to him, the APC has failed to evolve into a cohesive and disciplined political platform capable of guiding governance and maintaining strong links with its grassroots base.

“It has failed to transmute into an organic platform for instilling party discipline, ensuring synergy of party programmes with the centre and subnationals. It has actually lost contact with its old membership. It has become a bureaucratic angle of the government at the centre, at the state and at the local government levels,” he said.

Beyond party politics, Abari also weighed in on Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, cautioning against oversimplified characterisations while acknowledging the severity of the crisis, particularly in northern regions.

“Genocide is a bit heavy concept to call what we are witnessing in other areas. The ones that the Tor Tiv spoke about were actually a case of targeted killings which he said were done by non-Nigerians,” he explained.

However, he stressed that the scale of violence and destruction remains deeply troubling.

“But the issue is there is a deep incidence of insecurity leading to massive destruction of lives and properties. Whether you call it ethnic cleansing or genocide, the north is under siege,” Abari stated.

His remarks add to growing criticism from political stakeholders over both the internal workings of the APC and the broader security situation in the country, raising fresh questions about party discipline, governance alignment, and the effectiveness of current strategies to address insecurity.