Latest Headlines
Atiku’s Political Desperation Responsible for PDP’s Tragic Disintegration, Says APC
![Atiku’s Political Desperation Responsible for PDP’s Tragic Disintegration, Says APC](https://global.ariseplay.com/amg/www.thisdaylive.com/uploads/Atiku-Abubukar.jpg)
•Dismisses allegations ruling party paying opposition parties N50m
•Insists Obi lacks capacity to govern Nigeria
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, alleged that the political desperation of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was responsible for the disintegration of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, in a statement, wondered why Atiku continued to point fingers at the ruling party for the festering rot in his party, and the dysfunction of opposition parties generally.
Atiku had at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, on Monday in Abuja, warned that the country’s democracy was imperilled by excessive judicial involvement in electoral matters.
He also placed the current woes of the opposition parties at the door of the governing APC.
But Morka, in the statement, said without a shred of evidence, Atiku alleged that President Bola Tinubu was paying certain opposition leaders a whooping N50 million each.
He recalled that it was in the Atiku era as vice president, particularly between 2003 and 2007, that PDP conducted the worst elections in the country’s political history.
The APC spokesperson stressed that they could not possibly forget how Atiku’s PDP heavy-handedly captured most South-west states and vowed to remain in power for 60 years.
Morka said it was in those same years that former President Olusegun Obasanjo infamously described the election as a “do-or-die affair” in a desperate attempt to annex Lagos State.
“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?” he asked.
Morka added that the judicial arm of government was a constitutional creation, like the executive and legislature, with its constitutionally defined powers to adjudicate disputes among citizens and between citizens and the state.
He pointed out that Atiku could not wish away or seek to abolish enshrined powers of the courts to intervene in civil disputes, including electoral disputes, in cases where the authority of the court was validly invoked by a litigant.
Morka stated, “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.”
The ruling party said Atiku should focus on rebuilding his party and offering constructive solution to Nigeria’s challenges.
It stated that Atiku’s allegation that the APC administration was paying out N50 million to some opposition figures was bogus and laughable.
According to the statement, “Atiku knows that his political desperation is responsible for PDP’s catastrophic disintegration. Peddling rumours 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 election.”