Former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu visits Bisi Akande prompting speculation he will join APC

FORMER Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is thought to be on the verge of joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) after he paid an impromptu visit to the party's former chairman Chief Bisi Akande yesterday.

 

In a surprise move, Mallam Ribadu visited Chief Akande at his residence in Ila-Orangun in Osun State yesterday and discussed with him for a few hours. Mallam Ribadu who ran for the governorship of Adamawa State as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate during the last elections, used to be close to Chief Akande, when they were both leading members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

 

In 2011, when Chief Akande was the ACN chairman, Mallam Ribadu was its presidential candidate, however, when the ACN merged with several other parties to form the APC, the former EFCC chairman opted to join the PDP.  Mallam Ribadu's visit yesterday in the company of the APC's general secretary Alhaji Mai Bala Buni, was seen as a prelude to a formal defection.

 

One APC source, said: “I was told Ribadu and the national secretary of the APC visited Chief Akande together. It is difficult to say if he is defecting to our party because I was not there but we won’t ask him not to come if he wants to come.”

 

Diran Odeyemi, the director of publicity and strategy of the PDP in Osun State, berated the former anti-corruption agency boss for allegedly going back and forth. He added that it was not right for Mallam Ribadu to announce his defection at Ila-Orangun as it is not his local government.

Mr Odeyemi said: “Ribadu has never proved to be a loyal party man. He joined the PDP from the ACN and he is going back now, so he is not somebody to be depended upon when it comes to politics.”

 

After the meeting, however, Mallam Ribadu said he was in Ila-Orangun to reconnect with Chief Akande, who he described as a father and statesman. He eulogised Chief Akande, a former Osun State governor, recalling the overwhelming support and affection he was shown by the people of Osun State during his 2011 presidential bid.

 

“Baba Akande is a very important person to all of us. He is a father in the true sense of the word and from the day I decided to venture into politics, I have benefited from his guidance and wisdom.

 

“I have not seen Baba in a long time, so I feel this is a good time to come and greet him at home. Of course, I have never been far away from Baba’s fountain of wisdom and party differences cannot be a reason to abandon old ties,” Mallam Ribadu said.