My Conscience Left APC Long Ago’: Buba Galadima’s Daughter Recounts How Son Nearly D!ed At Abuja Hospital
‘My Conscience Left APC Long Ago’: Buba Galadima’s Daughter Recounts How Son Nearly Died At Abuja Hospital
Galadima said her experience, which she described as life-altering, reinforced her belief that the country is facing systemic breakdowns across multiple sectors.
In a wide-ranging interview on Seun Okinbaloye’s podcast, Zainab Abubakar Galadima, daughter of prominent politician Buba Galadima and a former Wuse Ward Councillor in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, shared a personal account she said reflects Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, economic hardship, and challenges within the public healthcare system.
Her remarks came during a broader discussion on her political journey and her recent resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which she said was driven by both ideological disillusionment and a traumatic incident involving her son.
Galadima said her experience, which she described as life-altering, reinforced her belief that the country is facing systemic breakdowns across multiple sectors.
She began by reflecting on what she sees as long-standing national challenges.
“I am a Nigerian, I know exactly what is going on there. Insecurity, the hunger, the lack of opportunity, no social justice, so many things are wrong and I have seen them a long time ago,” she said.
She explained that her initial decision to remain within the APC was based on political calculation and a belief in internal reform rather than sudden defection.
“APC is a platform, people make up the APC and as a young person, I do not believe in jumping from one place to another, that was the reason why I stayed,” she said.
“I thought maybe if we had a chance, we could make things better. There are lots of platforms, as a politician, you have to make calculations. I wanted to see if there was anywhere that would give me a better option.”
However, she said her confidence in the system gradually eroded, culminating in a personal emergency that she described as a turning point.
“The best place for me to be and contribute meaningfully, to see that value. My conscience left the APC a long time ago. One day, Nigeria happened to me. My son was sick, he could not breathe, he was convulsing, so I ran to the hospital at 1 a.m. When I got there, the doctor on duty, the paediatrician, was asleep and I met a nurse.”
She alleged that at a hospital in Abuja, she was asked to pay before urgent treatment could be administered, despite the severity of her child’s condition.
“I left my phone at home, I didn’t have any money, home and abroad, and it was just across the road, Asokoro hospital. after I told them, I live across the road, my name is Zainab Abubakar Galadima. I am a technical assistant to the Vice President, my brother works here, he was on call yesterday, please, can you assist me, help me, my son cannot breathe, his eyes was turning white and the lady looked at me and said drop your child there,” she said.
She further claimed she was instructed to raise between N10,000 and N15,000 before treatment could begin.
“She asked me to leave my child and go to bring N10,000 to N15,000. Lucky enough before I left home, I poured water on him, the water I poured on him was what cooled his temperature down. Somebody saw me begging her, because they are so used to seeing dead bodies. My son’s dead body was nothing to her.”
According to her, intervention only came after a passerby alerted a doctor, which ultimately led to emergency treatment being administered.
“Somebody who saw me begging rushed to call the doctor. He was my brother’s friend and when I introduced myself, he acknowledged me. You have to go round the hospital to get to my house. The gate facing my house was locked and they do not open it. By the time he opened the cannula before he put it on my son, he regained consciousness. I finally got my phone, I called my brother, he came and we paid N500. Because of N500, my son could have died.”
She added that despite having access to private healthcare, she was unable to reach it in time.
“I could not drive to Gwarinpa, where I have a registration with a private hospital. Many people see as if we do not care. We have relatives, I might be privileged but some are not,” she saic.
Reiterating her broader frustration, she said her trust in the ruling party had already eroded long before her formal exit.
“So, my conscience left along time ago. But if I live where do I go that my value will be seen and appreciated. And I do not want to seem impatient with the system. I wanted to give them benefits of doubt,” she said.
Earlier, she had formally resigned from the APC in a letter dated March 30, addressed to the Ward Chairman of Wuse Ward in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), citing loss of alignment with the party’s ideology.
In her resignation note, she wrote: “I tried, I am tired; my conscience left the party, so I quit.”
In a final reflection, Galadima said her experience had strengthened her conviction that Nigeria urgently needs reforms that prioritize human life, dignity, and equal access to basic services, insisting that her story was not about privilege but about a system that, in her view, fails ordinary citizens at their most vulnerable moments.
