Aggrieved members of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have threatened to pull out of the All Progressives Congress (APC), 12 years after its formation, citing alleged marginalisation by former President Muhammadu Buhari and now President Bola Tinubu.

In 2013, the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the ANPP merged to form the APC, ahead of the 2015 general elections that saw the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) President Goodluck Jonathan.

National Coordinator of the Association of Former ANPP Members, Prof Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, told journalists yesterday in Abuja that since the emergence of the APC, most ANPP members have been relegated to the background.

Ajumbe hinted that in the next few weeks, they would organise state and zonal meetings to inform their members of their resolutions.

“We are aware that Mr President is too busy and may not be aware of the exclusion of the former ANPP bloc from the scheme of things in the APC-led federal government, and that is why we are bringing it to his notice,” he said.

To forestall their defection, he urged President Tinubu to consider appointing ANPP members as board chairmen, ambassadors, ministers, and heads of government agencies and departments.

He also demanded the vice-presidential seat in the 2027 polls.

He added: “Since the formation of APC, the CPC bloc has ruled for eight years under the late President Buhari.

“The CAN bloc is currently occupying the presidency. Fairness and equity demand that our President should hand over power to the ANPP bloc when his tenure expires in 2031.” (Daily Sun, excluding headline)