By Our Correspondent
Nuhu Ribadu, former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, July 22, returned to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Ribadu said in a statement he posted on his Facebook page that he rejoined the party online on Friday, and then hosted officials of the party from his Bako Ward in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa state.
Then on Friday, he visited the Yola South secretariat of the APC to present himself to the party.
He had left the party for the Peoples Democratic Party in 2014.
Mr Ribadu, a former presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, explained that his return to the APC was triggered by his belief that all politics were local and that almost everyone around him who started politics with him believed the time had come for them to make sacrifices and concession.
He said: “My decision to return to the APC was triggered by my belief that all politics are local. Almost everyone around me, and with whom we started my political journey believed the time had come for us to make sacrifices and make concessions. That is in addition to the unbelievable love that my friends in the APC have showered on me in the past months.
“They demonstrated in words and action that they wanted me back home. The intractable crises in the PDP also made it impossible for one to contribute to the necessary task of building a viable opposition platform for our country.
“I also did a deep and long reassessment of the circumstances that warranted my exit from the APC in the first place. I left the APC in 2014 owing to fundamental disagreements with the ways the chapter of the party in my state was run after it fell into some hands.”
Premium Times had reported on Tuesday that the Adamawa state chapter of the APC was wooing Ribadu back.
The former EFCC boss is one of the founding leaders of the party, but defected to the PDP in 2014, a few months to the 2015 general elections.
He left the APC after the impeachment of former Governor Murtala Nyako by the State House of Assembly in 2014.
He was reportedly disappointed that the APC leadership could not save Mr Nyako from impeachment.
He became the governorship candidate of the PDP in Adamawa in the April 11, 2015 election but lost to the incumbent, Jubrilla Bindow.
This newspaper also reported on Tuesday that the Adamawa State chapter of the APC wrote Ribadu, asking him to return to his “home party.”
The letter, dated, June, 22, 2016, reads in part:
“Given your track records and progressives nature, we strongly belief APC is where you belong to.
“We are also mindful of the efforts and contributions you made during the merger without which the merger would have been difficult.
“To this end we reaffirm our request for you to come home to APC and assist and contribute to the success of the APC government both at state and national level.”
It was learnt that at the time the APC was making the request, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party was also pressuring him to serve as national chairman to “reorganise the PDP as it readies itself to reclaim power in 2019″.
Below is Ribadu’s statement announcing his return to the APC
“Today I heeded the calls on me to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party of which I was a founding member.
I re-registered as a member of the APC last night through the party’s online portal. After that, the leadership of the party in my Bako ward of Yola South Local Government Area visited me in my Yola residence to welcome me back to their fold.
This afternoon, I visited the Yola South secretariat of the party to present myself and submit to the leadership as a loyal party man.
My decision to return to the APC was triggered by my belief that all politics are local. Almost everyone around me, and with whom we started my political journey believed the time had come for us to make sacrifices and make concessions. That is in addition to the unbelievable love that my friends in the APC have showered on me in the past months.
They demonstrated in words and action that they wanted me back home. The intractable crises in the PDP also made it impossible for one to contribute to the necessary task of building a viable opposition platform for our country.
I also did a deep and long reassessment of the circumstances that warranted my exit from the APC in the first place. I left the APC in 2014 owing to fundamental disagreements with the ways the chapter of the party in my state was run after it fell into some hands.
Some colleagues and I tried hard to reposition the fold and save the then APC administration from an orchestrated impeachment plot. We didn’t succeed.
Events in the last 15 months have addressed many of the issues and healed some of the wounds. More so, with the genuine and sincere invitations I received since last year to retrace my steps into the party, I decided to return after consulting family and political associates at all levels.
I would like to appreciate all those members of the party who privately and publicly prodded me to return to the party. My appreciation also goes to the leadership of our party, from my ward in Bako to the national leadership, for the enthusiasm they showed in having me back.”
Nuhu Ribadu said that his decision to join politics was a mad one given his roles in the fight against corrupt persons.
The pioneer chairman of the EFCC said this at the National Stakeholders Workshop on the Recovery and Management of Recovered Assets which was organised by the professor Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption.
Ribadu who was recently recalled to the All Progressives Congress (APC) said he would fight corruption again if given the opportunity to do so.
The Punch reports that the former EFCC chairman said he was appalled by reports the that former heads of the commission, especially the immediate past chairman, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, diverted over N1tn of the loot recovered by the anti-graft agency over the years.
He said it was unfair they were accused of diverting fund considering the manner in which he and members of his team including Lamorde and Ibrahim Magu handled the cases.
