BOLAJI Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), has denied rumours making the rounds that he has left the party, saying “I came through the front door and will not go through the back door.”
Abdullahi is a known ally of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who decamped to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday, alongside the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed.
“It is not true that I have resigned and let me emphasise that there is no iota of truth in that report,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Abdullahi as saying in response to the rumours of his resignation.
Abdullahi had served as a Minister during the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, and on Tuesday, shortly after Saraki announced his defection, the PDP also posted a tweet welcoming Abdullahi “back home”.
Breaking News! The National Publicity Secretary of the failed and dysfunctional @APCNigeria, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has also returned home. @OfficialPDPNig. Congratulation and welcome home. More are coming. PDP! Power to the people pic.twitter.com/4eVLcJXfqP
— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) July 31, 2018
Prominent PDP members, including the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan and Femi Fani-Kayode also tweeted.
I want to use this medium to congratulate my brother and colleague Mal. Bolaji Abdullahi for seeing the light, your decision to quit the APC is a welcome idea and good for democracy.
— Kola Ologbondiyan (@officialKolaO) July 31, 2018
Glad to hear that my friend and brother, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has dumped the APC. The Deputy Publicity Secretary, Timi Frank, dumped the APC long ago. It appears that the APC is imploding. The few smart people that are there are leaving!
— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) July 31, 2018
However, Abdullahi maintained that he is still an APC member.
“I can understand where the speculation (of purported defection) is coming from, perhaps because I was absent during the NWC (National Working Committee) meeting on Monday. However, the speculators didn’t know that I told my colleagues that I was away in Kwara State,” he said.
“I want to put it on record that I came through the front door and if I want to leave, I will leave through the front door.”
The APC NWC, on Monday, dissolved the Kwara State executive of the party which had declared their loyalty to Saraki, while warning all other loyalists of the Senate President who are still holding federal government appointments to either resign or be fired.