Former members of the 7th National Assembly elected under the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) have distanced themselves from former Attorney General Abubakar Malami and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai over allegations of plotting to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
At a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, the ex-lawmakers made it clear that Malami and El-Rufai lacked the legitimacy to represent the CPC’s legacy.
They insisted that only elected officials of the former CPC held the right to speak on the party’s behalf.
Nasiru Ila, who led the delegation, sharply criticised Malami for undermining the leadership of former Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
Malami had earlier dismissed Al-Makura’s CPC faction and claimed that only the faction aligned with former President Muhammadu Buhari—which included himself—had the authority to interact with the new opposition coalition led by ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and El-Rufai.
Responding to that assertion, Ila, a former Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on National Assembly Matters, stated “Neither Malami nor any group outside the elected CPC representatives had the authority to speak on behalf of the party.”
He went further to highlight their electoral mandate “We, the former elected members of the CPC from the 7th Assembly and many more who stood for elections, won and were subsequently robbed of their hard-earned, hard-won, yet short-lived victories, remain the only legitimate and authentic voice of the defunct CPC.”
“We are the true custodians of the party’s legacy and the representatives of the twelve million Nigerians, predominantly in northern Nigeria, who entrusted us with their mandate.”
Aliyu Gedin, another former CPC legislator, voiced dismay over what he described as marginalisation of their group, though he reaffirmed their allegiance to the APC.
He lamented that the party had become infiltrated by individuals without the foundational ties or values of the legacy party.
“However, it does not negate the fact that we are bona fide members of the APC. Political parties are supposed to nurture those who invested in them, but we still have a situation where we have usurpers, interlopers, and criminals jumping in through the window,” Gedin said.
He added: “I will not sit down here and say we are okay with the government. It has never been my nature. It is not the nature of the CPC.”
“Certainly, it is not the nature or in our DNA to shy away from the truth. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing right in a lot of things, but there is still room to improve. There’s still room for correction.”
Other prominent attendees at the briefing included Senator Ibrahim Musa, Ibrahim Gobir, Sanusi Aliyu, Mohammed Tukur (Katsina Central), Senator Ahmed Sani, Ibrahim Chachangi, Yusuf Bala, and Garuba Datti, who served as the 7th Assembly Caucus Leader and is now APC National Vice Chairman (North-West).
