APC won’t accept corrupt politicians, says Deputy National Secretary Fuanter

From Jude Owuamanam, Jos

Barrister Festus Fuanter, Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that the party will not admit corrupt or underperforming politicians, particularly governors who have failed to deliver despite receiving substantial statutory allocations over the past two years.

Speaking to reporters in Jos on Saturday, May 17, 2025, Fuanter addressed the recent wave of defections to the APC, especially from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Fuanter clarified that the APC has not actively solicited defections from governors or legislators. “The APC has not, as a matter of deliberate policy, persuaded any governor or legislator to decamp to the APC.

Rather, they are all decamping into the APC out of their free volition and in recognition of the positive trajectory which the renewed hope agenda of the president is moving the country towards,” he said. He attributed the defections to the PDP’s failure to provide internal democracy for its members.

On the protests against Dr Cyril Tsenyil’s appointment as Managing Director of the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), Fuanter condemned the actions as “ill-conceived and unnecessary”.

He warned protesters and their sponsors to stop interfering in APC affairs, noting that Tsenyil’s appointment has the full endorsement of the APC’s Plateau State chapter and stakeholders.

“The appointment of Dr Tsenyil received my full blessings as the highest Party chieftain in the National Working Committee, not only in Plateau State but the entire North Central zone, as well as the support of the entire stakeholders of the APC in the State,” he stated.

Fuanter described Tsenyil, who holds a PhD in Accounting, as a highly qualified professional capable of driving the NCDC’s growth. “The nominee… is one of the best qualified professionals who can midwife the growth of the new commission to the full realisation of its potential to the benefit of the North Central in particular and Nigeria in general,” he said.

He dismissed the planned protests as the work of a “frustrated and disintegrating political party” outside the APC, asserting that Tsenyil’s appointment is a “wise decision” by President Bola Tinubu.

Fuanter urged APC supporters to remain calm, assuring them that Tinubu has begun appointing Plateau State APC members who contributed to his 2023 election victory.