In an attempt to sabotage Nigeria’s democratic process, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is giving opposition party leaders N50 million per.
Speaking Monday at a national conference on bolstering democracy, which was organized by a number of civic organizations, Atiku cautioned that if immediate action wasn’t taken, the country’s democracy was in danger of collapsing.
“I would like to publicly state it here. During my meeting with the current opposition’s political party leadership, they bluntly informed me that they receive N50 million apiece from the government, Atiku disclosed.
Saying, “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,” he cast doubt on the opposition parties’ dedication to democracy. Are we genuinely interested in fighting for democracy?
Lamenting the decline of democratic norms, Atiku questioned the legitimacy of Nigeria’s electoral umpire and criticized the present National Assembly as a “rubber stamp” for the government.
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As an example of integrity Nigeria should follow, he pointed to Turkey, where the electoral authority declined to declare a president-elect who did not receive the necessary number of votes.
He called for opposition groups to come together and reflected on his decades-long fight for democracy, mentioning personal sacrifices such as exile, business seizures, and a failed assassination attempt.
“If we don’t band together and do something, we might not have democracy at all.” “For heaven’s sake,” Atiku said.
