‘I’m The Soul Of APC’ – Buhari’s Former Aide, Ardo Reveals Role He Played In CPC, ACN Merger

A former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari and Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Adamawa, Dr Umar Ardo has described himself as the soul of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Ardo also revealed that he played a major role in the merger of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which were part of the three political parties that formed the APC.

According to him, he paved the way for APC to come to power while he was still in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Ardo said,“I am the soul of APC. I conceived the idea and when I did, I convinced Buhari and after that Tinubu was brought in. When I was conceiving the idea, I had the plan on how to operate the administration.

“My idea was not simply how to get Buhari in, but also how to run the government in a form of an adviser to see that things are resolved. But the very day Buhari was declared president-elect, he stopped seeing me. APC took a life of its own after the strategic thinking I offered for its formation.

“I remained in PDP while I was doing all this and I ensured I pinned PDP down to pave the way for APC to win. I even went up to the Supreme Court in my suit challenging the eligibility of Jonathan to contest. The Supreme Court on November, 2014 threw out the case. So, I did all this and what happened to me after. Buhari betrayed me. I did not do it because I wanted to get something from him, but my first priority was how to get things working in the country.

“We felt that Buhari, as a former governor of Northeastern state, would have a good insight into the area and resolve the insecurity there.”

Asserting why Buhari failed in tackling insecurity in the country, Ardo said “The reason is because when he became president, he took the body of APC and left the soul,” adding that he came in with the reputation of a military general with capacity to secure the country.