AATSG

**The Slow Death of Loyalty: How the APC is Quietly Burying the People Who Built It ** Series 2

By Otunba (Dr) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo

Inside the All Progressives Congress today, a silent heartbreak is spreading. Men and women who gave their youth, their money, their health even their freedom for a party that promised change. Many are now old, sick, broke, and forgotten. While new arrivals with deep pockets or famous last names are handed ambassadorial posts, boards, and juicy contracts, the original builders watch from the shadows, wondering why the party they carried on their backs now steps on their necks.

Some have died waiting. Others are dying in silence. “We didn’t join APC for contracts,” one elderly ward chairman whispered to me, voice cracking. “We joined because we believed tomorrow would be better. Now tomorrow has come, and we are the only ones left behind.”
That pain has a face. His name is Jesse T. Garaha.

The Man Who Kept the Party Alive When No One Else Would Jesse T. Garaha was there before APC had a name. When it was still AD, AC then ACD, then ACN, Jesse was the quiet, tireless accountant who made sure party papers were in order, funds (however little) were accounted for, and logistics for secret meetings across the country did not collapse. He sat in smoky rooms with the pioneers:

• The late Chief Alexis Anenior, who chaired ACD with nothing but conviction
• Senator Adefuye, fierce and fearless
• Alhaji Lai Mohammed in his younger, hungrier days
• The indomitable Chief T**i Ajanaku
• Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, carrying the North’s hope
• Engineer Ikechi Emenike
• Sgt. Rogers and so many others who risked everything when opposing PDP felt like su***de.

They had no government money. No security votes. No billions from oil blocs. Just belief and Jesse’s ledgers. He never asked for a kobo. He sold his own car at one point to fuel generators for merger meetings. When his mother died, he buried her quietly and returned to work the next day because “the merger could not wait.”

Today, Jesse T. Garaha pioneer accountant of the legacy parties that birthed APC sits in the mail room of the National Secretariat. No office. No car. No home of his own. He treks or boards staff buses. His health is failing. His children have stopped asking “When will Daddy be recognised?” because the shame is too much.

Every day he walks past photographs of the same leaders he served now presidents, governors, ministers, senators smiling in corridors he can no longer enter without permission. When I spoke to him last week in Abuja after visiting the APC National Secretariat to see the National Chairman , he fought tears and said only this:

“I am not begging for money. I am begging for dignity. Tell them: don’t let me die like this. Not like this.” His story is not unique. It is repeated in every state. The woman who housed fugitives in 2014 now sells pure water. The youth leader who was shot in the leg during the 2015 campaigns now limps from one political office to another, clutching old photographs, pleading for a job “any job.” The elderly clerk who kept party funds in his bedroom because there was no office now watches his grandchildren drop out of school while “new members” buy bulletproof Jeeps.

This is not grievance. This is grief. A Flicker of Hope: What the Current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda Got Right To be fair, something beautiful happened recently. For the first time in over 25 years, a National Chairman looked at the cleaners, drivers, security men, clerks people previous administrations treated them as furniture and said, “These ones too are human.”

He introduced housing subventions for every single staff member at the National Secretariat, from the least messenger to the directors. Overnight, people who had never dreamt of owning a roof began to smile again. Tears flowed in corridors that day. Grown men hugged one another and wept. That single act proved something profound: when leadership chooses empathy, the entire house feels it.
If one man could do that for secretariat staff in months, imagine what deliberate, nationwide policy could do for the thousands of forgotten foot soldiers across 36 states.

A Plea Before It Is Too Late, The APC is not poor. Nigeria is not poor. What we lack is conscience. Elections are coming. The same people you ignored will be needed again to stand in the sun, to canvass house-to-house, to protect votes with their bodies. Will they still come when their own party treated them like used tissue?

Loyalty is not weakness. Loyalty is capital. And right now, the APC is burning its most precious capital. Jesse Garaha should not die in a mail room. The woman selling pure water should not be invisible. The limping youth leader should not be begging. Give them houses. Give them medical care. Give them board appointments. Give them contracts if you must. But above all, give them back their dignity.

Because a party that eats its own children will one day wake up and find no one left to call it “Father.”

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Distinguished National Chairman, leaders of the APC:

Jesse is still alive. But not for long if we wait another year. Don’t let the man who kept your records when you had nothing die sorting mail for those who came when you had everything.
Restore the soul of this party. Before the body follows.

Signed:
Otunba (Dr.) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo, D.Sc (h.c)
National Chairman
Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu Support Group (AATSG)

Date: Friday, 5th December, 2025
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +234 905 353 5322
Website: www.aatsg.org.ng

In this pivotal time, remember: Our choices echo through history. Will you choose to heal the wounds you’ve inflicted, or let apathy destroy what we’ve built? Loyalty to Nigeria, to our Elected President, and to the Truth demands action now before it’s too late.

**APC’s Rewarding System Is Becoming the Party’s Greatest Weakness Ahead of 2027**

By Otunba. (Dr) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo.

The truth is simple: no political party survives on structures alone it survives on trust. And when a ruling party consistently fails to reward loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice, it creates the very conditions that weaken its own base.

If we look honestly at the APC’s trajectory since 2015, one pattern stands out: the party has never built a coherent, consistent, and transparent rewarding system for its members.

People work, mobilize, defend the party, sacrifice their time, resources, and reputation yet when appointments, opportunities, and recognitions are shared, the same small circle benefits repeatedly while thousands who built the victory remain forgotten.

This is not about entitlement, This is about basic political management. No ruling party can go into 2027 with a demoralised base, unresolved grievances, and millions of supporters who feel used and abandoned. Politics is local, and grassroots loyalty cannot be commanded it must be earned and nurtured.

The recent controversies and appointments only highlight what has been happening quietly for years:

* People who fought for the party are sidelined.
* Those who opposed the party are elevated.
* Those who contributed nothing are empowered over those who carried the burden of elections on their backs.

**This is dangerous.**

Because when loyal supporters lose faith, the party loses its engine. The APC needs to correct this immediately if it wants stability, unity, and a competitive edge in 2027. A fairer and more strategic rewarding system is not a favour it is the foundation of electoral survival.

My Message is simple:
Reward loyalty. Recognize competence. Empower the grassroots. Respect those who stand with the party consistently. Anything short of this will create serious problems for APC, not because the opposition is strong, but because internal discontent will weaken the party from within.

APC can fix this but the time to act is now, not when the damage has already been done.

**Signed:**
Otunba (Dr.) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo, D.Sc (h.c)
National Chairman
Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu Support Group (AATSG)

Date: Wednesday, 3rd December, 2025
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +234 905 353 5322
Website: www.aatsg.org.ng

As we look to the future, let’s embrace the important role our choices play in shaping the destiny of our nation. Together, let's commit to the path of active and positive citizenship!
Loyal to Country Nigeria, Loyal to any Elected President and finally Loyal to the Truth.