A former Minister of Sports under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Solomon Dalung, has expressed regrets that the government under which he once served, has failed the Nigerian people.
Dalung who recently quits the APC, having formerly presented his letter of resignation to the APC ward chairman in Sabin-Gida, Langtang south LGA of Plateau State, has been critical of the Buhari administration whom he accused of breach of contract with those who voted him to power.
In one of his interview with BBC Hausa, he said despite having worked with the Buhari government during his first term in office, he is not afraid to speak truth to power in view of current realities facing the country.
He said the current state of the nation is frightening as Nigerians are forced to seek alternative means of survival in their own country as government doesn't exist.
He said, “In the north, if you are a Muslim and you want to travel, you must pray, fast for days before embarking on the journey. If you are Christian and you want to travel, you must fast and pray for days before you travel.
“Even if the journey is successful, you will still go to the hospital because of high blood pressure arising from fear during the journey. We have never experienced this kind of situation. Imagine in the north, before you go to your farm, you will have to pay gunmen to allow you farm. If you want to harvest your farm produced, you will still have to pay gunmen before they allow you to harvest.
“So how can there be farming in the North? We have never experienced this kind of situation. It is our APC government, but this government has not address the needs of Nigerians. It is our government, but if we are not doing the correct thing, it is our responsibility to speak out because we spoke against some people in the past and we need to speak to ourselves too.
“You know me and everybody in Nigeria knows me. Whether I am still a minister, even if I am the president, whatever I see that is not right, I must speak out, not because of myself, but in the interest of the generality of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile on quitting the ruling party, Dalung attributed recent developments in the party which he said are incompatible with his values, as reasons for the his decision to finally walk away.
“This is to convey my withdrawal of membership from the All Progressives Congress with effect from the date of this notice,” the letter signed on April 18 reads.
“It is worthy of mention that recent developments in the party conflict with my core principles of values which define the basis of allegiance to the party.
“Of note is the fact that internal democracy is critical to the survival of representative democracy without which political participation remains a mirage.”