…says ‘we’ll keep putting sand in their garri’
A senior figure in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Farouk Adamu Aliyu, has stirred political waters with a bold admission that the party is actively working to destabilise opposition ranks ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a forthright interview on Africa Independent Television (AIT) on Monday, the former House of Representatives Minority Leader and APC stalwart confirmed what has long been asserted: that the APC has been “putting sand in the garri” of its opponents, a Nigerian idiom meaning to sabotage someone’s efforts.
“To some extent, yes, we are. Yes, we are. Of course. We will not sit by and allow them to dethrone us,” Aliyu said. “We will keep putting sand inside their garri. If they are able to take the sand, they can come and fight us. But as of now, honestly, there is no viable opposition in the country that can defeat us.”
Aliyu’s comments come at a time when Nigeria’s major opposition parties—the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP)—are engulfed in serious internal crises, some of which have been attributed to infiltration by external forces.
The PDP, Nigeria’s former ruling party, has been grappling with a deepening crisis since the aftermath of the 2023 general elections, where the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, lost to President Bola Tinubu.
A major source of the party’s disarray is widely believed to be its internal conflict, fuelled by the activities of former Rivers State Governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Wike, who is officially part of the APC-led government but has refused to renounce his PDP membership, has been accused of orchestrating a factional takeover of the party’s structures, especially in Rivers State. His allies currently control the PDP at both state and national levels in some areas, creating parallel structures and weakening the opposition’s cohesion.
Analysts argue that Wike’s dual loyalty is a tactical move by the ruling APC to keep the PDP divided.
His support for the APC government, including frequent praise of President Tinubu, has been interpreted as a Trojan horse strategy that has left the PDP fractured and unable to mount a coherent opposition.
The Labour Party, which gained significant national traction during the 2023 elections through its candidate Peter Obi, is also battling its own internal demons.
The party has been entangled in a leadership tussle between the Julius Abure-led executive and other factions claiming legitimacy.
Recently, court orders and counter-court orders have left the party in disarray, with accusations flying about infiltration and external interference.
Many supporters of the party have blamed the APC for funding internal dissent and using political operatives to create chaos in order to neutralise the LP’s growing influence among young and urban voters.
Farouk Adamu Aliyu’s comments now lend credence to those suspicions.
“There’s no opposition in this country. They simply don’t oppose anymore,” he said during the AIT interview. “When we were in opposition, we brought this country to a standstill. We opposed the government. And we want them to come and oppose us… We will not just sit by and allow them to come together.”
Asked whether this was fair play given that the PDP didn’t sabotage the APC’s formation back in 2013, Aliyu responded dismissively.
“That’s their business. We will not… In fact, we will put stones, not only sand. We will make sure they don’t come together because we think we are doing well,” he added.
While maintaining that Nigerians have the right to vote out the APC if dissatisfied, Aliyu underscored that the ruling party would do all within its power to maintain political advantage—including frustrating the opposition’s efforts to unite.
“If in the wisdom of the people they believe we are not doing well, please, let us not fight. When the election comes, they should defeat us. Simple.”
Defending the party’s internal cohesion, Aliyu said that, unlike the fragmented opposition, the APC has more reasons to stay united because it holds power.
“The difference between them and us is we have something at stake. We have the government. There are a lot of things to put us together than to disunite us,” he said.
“We will keep putting sand in their garri. We will not allow them to rear their head. We will make sure they don’t become a cog in the wheel of our progress.”
Aliyu’s comments may further strain Nigeria’s fragile democratic process, highlighting how ruling parties often weaponise statecraft to entrench themselves in power.
While such political gamesmanship is not new in Nigeria, the openness with which it is now discussed reflects a shift in tone—one that some fear could normalise undemocratic interference and deepen voter cynicism.
For opposition parties already bleeding from internal wounds and struggling to find direction, the road to 2027 just got even more treacherous.
Analysts say whether they can absorb the “sand” and “stones” and still stand strong remains to be seen.
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