Atiku, El-Rufai’s claim of APC plotting against opposition stir debate

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that Nigeria could lose its hard-fought democracy if it continues on the current trajectory, alleging plot by the ruling party to destroy the opposition in the country.

He spoke on Monday in Abuja as a panelist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), Peering Advocacy, Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) and the National Peace Committee (NPC).

“We really are at a crossroads in this democratic experiment. We either decide we want to be democratic or we decide to abandon it,” he said, while alluding to the statement that it is the court that now decides candidates or winners, not the people.

He also alleged that the present government had been inducing opposition party leaders.

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“I want to say it here publicly. I met with a political party leadership in the present opposition and they told me flatly that this government gives them N50 million each.

“Where do we go from here? This means that if we are not careful, we are talking to some of you here, but you are recipients of the N50 million from the APC government.

A former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, echoed Atiku’s concerns, describing the current situation with the opposition, as well as the style and quality of governance, as a national emergency. He stressed the need for opposition parties to unite and form a broad platform to protect democracy.

“The way and manner opposition political parties are being targeted for destruction, and the style and quality of governance in this country today are a national emergency. It should concern everyone. And I think this is a problem for all of us to think about and play a role in changing because, as His Excellency (Atiku) said, we stand the risk of losing democracy itself,” he said.

But the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) rejected the allegations. In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the APC described the claims as “simply baseless and laughable.”

The party attributed Atiku’s allegations to “political desperation,” blaming him for PDP’s internal crises.