Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the actions of the ruling party were steadily eroding pluralism, an essential element of true democracy.
He was reacting to the accusation of desperation by the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that the nomenclature best describes President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku said he had only voiced his profound concern regarding APC’s growing monopoly of power.
He also urged the ruling party to stand before the mirror and gaze upon the true face of desperation, saying, ”It is a face that mirrors their actions and ambitions.”
Atiku said he had accused the ruling party of undermining the autonomy of the opposition parties, casting a dark shadow over the future of Nigeria’s democratic integrity.
He explained that the occasion was supposed to be a moment of intellectual engagement, an opportunity for civil society to collaborate with political leaders in the pursuit of solutions to reinforce and elevate democracy in Nigeria.
“Rather than engage in a substantive dialogue to explore these critical issues, the APC, led by President Bola Tinubu, chose to descend into the depths of petty personal attacks against Atiku Abubakar.
“This was not a mere lapse in decorum, but a repeated symptom of a party gripped by paranoia and struggling under the weight of its own tarnished credibility.
”If there is any political figure in Nigeria who truly embodies the essence of desperation, it is none other than President Tinubu himself. Through his unchecked actions, he continues to blur the line between state power and personal ambition, magnifying his control over both the nation and its institutions,” Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibeh, said in a statement.
It added, ”The fact that the APC has become a mere extension of Tinubu’s will is a matter of little consequence. What truly alarms political observers — both inside and outside the APC — is the president’s calculated and insidious strategies to systematically cripple any form of social or political opposition.
“These actions, which Atiku rightfully warns against, are a direct threat to the future of Nigeria’s democracy.
”It is an irony most bitter that a man who once rose to prominence on the back of civil activism and the call for democratic renewal has now found himself in opposition to the very ideals that birthed his political career. This shift from proponent to adversary of multi-party democracy is both tragic and dangerous.”
The statement said, ”Atiku’s prophetic warnings have already begun to manifest. He was among the first to call attention to President Tinubu’s plans to populate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with members of his own political party, the APC. Today, the nation bears witness to this very scheme unfolding before our eyes.”
But National Secretary of APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said the ruling party was happy that the opposition parties in the country were getting weakened. Basiru said what this meant was that APC would be the only party of choice for whoever aspired for leadership.
Labour Party (LP) and PDP have been engulfed by internal crisis, which is threatening to tear both parties apart.
On Tuesday, former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, alleged that the ruling party planted mercenaries in the opposition parties to ignite intractable crisis within them.
Featuring on TVC, Basiru wondered why the ruling party should be blamed for a self-induced crisis in the opposition parties.
He said, regarding el-Rufai, “As a leader of APC, should he (el-Rufai) not be happy that the opposition to his political party are not getting themselves right.
“This is a competition… I am an Arsenal fan, if Manchester United and Manchester City are not doing well, should I not be happy? Should I be the one to tell them to get good players? Should I be able to tell them to get good coaches or to develop better tactical capabilities?
“As a political party, our concern is to win elections for people who fly the flag of our party. So as far as the other political parties are concerned, if they like, let them get their acts right, how has it affected our party?”
Basiru queried “Is it the APC that asked some people to sit in the sitting room of a governor to purportedly remove the national chairman of the Labour Party, Aburi? Is it the APC that went to court?
“And is it the APC that is the Court of Appeal that reinstated Aburi as the chairman of the Labor Party? Is it APC that is trying to create a division within the rank and file of the BoT of the PDP?
“If you have political parties that are not doing well it is not our job to help them put their house in order. Speaking frankly, we should be very happy that they are getting weakened, and that means that our party will be the only party of choice for anybody that aspires for leadership and progressive leadership in Nigeria.”
