The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rebuked former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar over his unfounded allegations that the party is paying opposition leaders 50 million Naira to destabilize political parties in Nigeria.
The claims were dismissed as baseless, laughable, urging the former presidential candidate to focus on the internal rebuilding of his party rather than distracting Nigerians with false and unsubstantiated accusations.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, warned Atiku that his political desperation is the true cause of the disintegration within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The statement reiterated that Atiku’s constant finger-pointing at the APC was an attempt to deflect attention from his own party’s internal issues.
Morka further pointed out the irony in Atiku’s criticism of judicial involvement in electoral matters, given his own extensive history of using the courts to pursue his political ambitions.
The statement read, “The former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, like a badly broken record, has continued to point fingers at the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the festering rot in his party, and the spectacular dysfunction of opposition parties generally.
“At the national conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja on Monday, January 27, 2025, Atiku, warned that the nation’s democracy was somewhat imperiled by judicial involvement in electoral matters.
“Also, without a shred of evidence, Atiku alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was paying certain opposition leaders a whopping 50 Million Naira each to discombobulate opposition parties in the country.
“It was in the Atiku era as Vice President, particularly in 2003 and 2007, that the PDP conducted the worst elections in our political history. We cannot possibly forget how Atiku’s PDP heavy-handedly captured most South-West states and vowed to remain in power for 60 years.
“It was in those same years that Atiku’s former boss and then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, infamously described the election as a ‘do or die affair’ in a desperate attempt to annex Lagos. If democracy was neither derailed nor endangered in those perilous days, is it now that elections are by far freer, fairer and more credible that Nigeria risks losing democracy?
“The judicial branch of government is a constitutional creation like the executive and legislative branches with its constitutionally defined powers to adjudicate disputes among citizens and between citizens and the state. Atiku cannot wish away or seek to abolish enshrined power of the courts to intervene in civil disputes, including electoral disputes, in cases where the authority of the court is validly invoked by a litigant.
“It is a thing of irony that Atiku, who is Nigeria’s most prolific electoral litigator, would make such a ludicrous claim that judicial involvement in electoral matters is a threat to democracy. His criticism of the courts and the electoral process rings hollow given his long history of using the courts to further his political agenda. It’s time for him to take a step back and let the democratic process unfold without his interference.
“Nigeria’s democracy is far stronger than Atiku’s political ambitions. We deserve better than petty politicking and alarmist rhetoric from an elder statesman. As a veteran politician, one would expect Atiku to understand that while democracy may be about winning elections, it is, more importantly, about respecting the will of the electorate and working towards the greater good of all. Atiku should focus on rebuilding his party and offering constructive solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
“Atiku’s allegation that the APC-led administration was paying out 50 Million Naira to some opposition figures is simply bogus and laughable. Atiku knows that his political desperation is responsible for the PDP’s catastrophic disintegration. Peddling rumors and unsubstantiated allegations should be beneath anyone in the standing of an elder statesman, a former Vice President and a serial contestant for the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The bizarre suggestion by opposition figures like Atiku, Peter Obi, and recently, aggrieved leaders like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai that our great Party may be complicit in the internal corrosion of opposition parties is pitiful, and only an incompetent alibi for their crass failure to manage their own affairs. They cannot govern their parties but tout their ability to govern Africa’s most populous country.
“As discerning citizens, Nigerians know better than to be distracted by the false alarm and hollow allegations of desperate politicians whose only goal is shore up their political relevance in the build up to 2027 general elections.”
…I no longer recognise APC — El-Rufai slams Ruling Party
Meanwhile, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has blasted the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the party of straying from its founding ideals and fostering poor leadership.
He shared the report on his X, formerly Twitter, handle on Tuesday, expressing concern over the absence of internal democracy and active party structures within the APC.
He expressed concern over the absence of internal democracy and active party structures within the APC.
“I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show,” El-Rufai said.
He also condemned the quality of leadership emerging from political parties, blaming the situation on unqualified delegates.
He charged political parties to raise standards for candidates and delegates, stressing that the constitution’s minimum requirement of a secondary school certificate should not be enough for nominations.
The former governor lamented that the APC’s founding goals of combating corruption, rebuilding the economy, and enhancing security have been abandoned.
He also cited a poll that showed 75 percent of registered voters might abstain from the 2027 elections, warning of a potential crisis.
In response to El-Rufai’s comments, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communications and Media, Daniel Bwala, questioned the former governor’s stance: “My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam.”