Party says it is the triumph of politics over excellence.

The Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has described the sack of Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi as "the triumph of politics over excellence."

Mr. Abdullahi, an indigene of Kwara State, was dropped from the federal cabinet on Wednesday.
 
The party said in a statement by its interim publicity secretary, Sulaimon Buhari, in Ilorin, that though Mr. Jonathan reserved the powers to hire and fire; in the exercise of such powers, he should have applied the international best practices, which demands that excellence and competence should not be traded on the altar of politics.
 
It said Mr. Abdullahi was the most successful sports minister in recent times and arguably the best Minister in the Federal Executive Council, FEC, and that by the sack, the president had lost a credible person.

The APC said that the minister heralded successes in Paralympics Games, 18th National Sports Festival (EKO 2012), 2012 Senior African Wrestling Championships in Morocco, 2012 Senior Africa Weightlifting Championships in Kenya, Boxing, Basketball, African Cup of Nation(AFCON), Under – 17 World Cup and qualification for World Cup 2014 in Brazil, to mention a few.
 
The party said though Mr. Abdullahi was not its member, the minister's removal three months to the World Cup in Brazil, was in bad taste.
 
"That a President could sack a performing Sports Minister three months to the World Cup speaks volume of the quality of Nigerian Presidency. This nature of politics is anti-people and anti-development," the APC said.

"It bears repeating that the achievements of Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi are known to Nigerians and can hardly ever be captured by any book.  As the Minister of Sports, he steered the ministry's ship to stardom and catapulted the Nation's sports sector to world class standard."