Afrobeat star Femi Kuti says he refused to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) partly because President Muhammadu Buhari jailed his father.
The 58-year-old stated this in a series of tweets on Friday to explain his participation in the January 2012 protest in Ojota, Lagos against fuel price hike.
According to him, he joined what he thought was a genuine movement against an unpopular policy by the then President Goodluck Jonathan.
He added that he pulled out immediately he realised the protest was politically motivated.
The singer and others who protested the fuel hike then have been called out for not protesting publicly against the recent increase in fuel price by the incumbent Buhari administration.
“I want to state for clarity and posterity my role in the Ojota protest,” Femi stated.
“I was invited for what I and many believed was a genuine cause regarding the cost of fuel.
“As soon as I found out it was politically motivated I pulled out.
“I got a lot of backlash at the time but stood my ground.
“For the record, I have NEVER and will NEVER affiliate with any political party that I don’t feel has the genuine interest of the people of Nigeria at heart.”
Femi added that he blatantly refused to join the APC when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asked him to, just as he refused to join the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Asked why he refused Osinbajo’s invitation to join APC, Femi said: “First, my main reason was President Buhari jailing my father in the 80s.
“Second, I didn’t believe any of the two major political parties had/have the genuine interest of the Nigerian people at heart.”
Femi Kuti made a similar statement in October 2018 when Osinbajo visited the Afrika Shrine for Felabration.
Addressing the crowd alongside the vice president, Femi said, “When I went to his (Osinbajo’s) house, he asked me to support him and he is here now and I am saying no. I won’t support him because of my father.
“But he is my friend, he said he understands and respects my view.”
Buhari was military head of state in 1984 when Fela was jailed on a charge of currency smuggling.
The jail sentence was widely denounced as politically motivated because the singer was a vocal critic of the government.
That experience formed parts of the lyrics for Fela’s 1989 song ‘Beast of no Nation’.
