Seun Kuti: Why it’s impossible for changemakers to hijack APC, PDP

Seun Kuti says it’s impossible to infiltrate the All Progressives Congress (APC) to eliminate vices.

The Afrobeat star spoke in a Twitter Spaces hosted by Rinu Oduala, one of the activists in the End SARS protest.

Kuti dismissed the view that political parties like the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can be hijacked.

He said it’s impossible for changemakers to transform the party because they will be won over at best or eliminated.

According to him, Nigerians mistake what he termed the “wickedness” of politicians for incompetence and aloofness.

“You can not infiltrate the APC or PDP. I think it’s rather naive for people who think that. We assume our politicians are not intelligent. And it’s very wrong. I don’t know if you’ve been close to them,” Kuti said.

“Some of these people are among the most intelligent. Even Buhari. He’s highly intelligent, trust me. But the issue is that they’re wicked. You people don’t want to call them what they are, so you mistake stupidity for wickedness.

“What’s happening today is deliberate, planned, and orchestrated. It’s not because they’re incompetent or don’t have sense. Do you see how they develop their personal lives, kids, businesses? Do you see their jets?

“How they have the best of the best things built by the best. They are just wicked people. Engaging with them, you cannot out-wicked or outsmart them with some spying or dark acts.”

“They tried to convince my father to join the military boys and work to change the country from the inside. My father laughed.  It is impossible to go into APC or PDP thinking you want to transform the party from within.

“They will transform you, eliminate you, or expel you from the party depending on your clout in their midst.”

I don’t believe in youth-dominated leadership, says Kuti

On the Movement of the People (MOP), his fledgling political movement, Kuti said efforts are underway to establish an office in Abuja while working towards announcing its first convention.

In the context of Nigeria’s leadership being dominated by the older population, the singer-turned-activist dismissed the idea that citizens should champion youth-led governance.

Kuti argued that, by virtue of education and tutelage, many youths are no different from those they seek to oust, something he said the MOP looks to address.

“We need both young and old, everyone who is Nigerian. I’m not an ageist. We’re trying to get MOP registered but it’s difficult. We’ve not held our convention. We want to get an office in Abuja,” he said.

“Once they hear it’s MOP, they refund our money. Politics is very elitist in Nigeria. We realised poor people cannot form a party here except they have an extraordinary sense of organisation and duty above hunger that binds them.

“We’re trying to gather state reps. As soon as we’ve done that, we’ll announce our convention.

“We scream EndSARS in Lagos and cousins in the US are screaming Black Lives Matter. A policeman coked his gun at him even after EndSARS. That’s why I told them (MOP) not to do the End SARS protest.

“If we’re going to protest, we’re doing ‘end oppressors, end domination’. EndSARS is a half step, with most young people being oppressors in the waiting themselves because we were educated by oppressors. It’s not judgment.”