From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has fired back at the trio of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, former governors of Anambra and Kaduna States, Peter Obi and Mallam Nasir el-Rufai respectively, describing them as aggrieved desperate leaders.
Labelling Atiku Nigeria’s most prolific electoral litigator, the national leadership of the ruling party emphasised that the attack from Obi and El-Rufai was a confirmation of the incompetent alibi for their crass failure to manage their own affairs.
APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, claimed that Nigerians know that the distractions, false alarm and hollow allegations were from desperate politicians whose only goal is shore up their political relevance in the build up to the 2027 general elections.
According to the statement, “Atiku Abubakar, like a badly broken record, has continued to point fingers at the 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 whooping 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 Nigeria, 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,” APC attacked.
While reacting further, APC noted: “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 ironic 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 N50 million 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 Nigeria,” the statement read.
Replying Obi and El-Rufai, APC noted: “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,” Morka quipped.
