The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted the claim by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was paying out N50 million to some opposition figures to destabilize opposition political parties in Nigeria.

APC, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Mr Felix Morka, particularly described the claim attributed to Atiku at a conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja as simply bogus and laughable.

APC argued that Atiku?s political desperation was responsible for what it termed ?the 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,? it 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 to shore up their political relevance in the build-up to the 2027 general elections,? APC said.

APC noted that it is a thing of irony that Atiku, who it claimed is Nigeria?s most prolific electoral litigator, would make such a ludicrous claim that judicial involvement in electoral matters is a threat to democracy.

APC, while frowning at Atiku?s criticism of the courts, stressed that it?s time for him to take a step back and let the democratic process unfold without his interference.

According to APC, 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.

APC thereby called on Atiku to focus on rebuilding his party and offering constructive solutions to Nigeria?s challenges. (The Guardian)

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