The Special Assistant on New Media to Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Rinsola Abiola, has dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a statement on Friday, Ms Abiola, who is the late M.K.O. Abiola’s daughter, said she dumped the ruling party after she was told not to consider running for any elective position on the platform of the party.
Ms Abiola, who was a youth representative on the APC Board of Trustees, revealed that she had expressed interest to vie for a political position following the passage of the “Not Too Young To Run” bill by the Senate but was told she “must not run”, and “should not even consider it”.
Consequently, she decided to quit the APC, stressing that such responses should not be “tolerated in a democracy which many people fought for, with some of our heroes – my father-inclusive – losing their lives in the process.”
“I began consultations in October 2017 but have now concluded that while legal constraints may have been done away with, there are greater challenges that we all must contend with. Apart from the usual issues like funding and violence, undemocratic dictates which are now (erroneously) viewed as the norm also pose a serious challenge.
“I have been told in no unclear terms that I “must not run”, that I “should not even consider it”, and that there are “consequences for disobedience,” she said in a statement.
“I believe strongly that such things should not be tolerated in a democracy which many people fought for, with some of our heroes – my father-inclusive – losing their lives in the process.
“I also believe that if those who fought for this democracy had listened to such veiled threats or even thought about the consequences that they might face, civil rule would not have been restored when it was.”
Ms Abiola didn’t state what party she will be joining after she quit the ruling APC.
