The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent claim that President Bola Tinubu’s administration bribed opposition parties with N50 million each to destabilize their leadership ahead of the 2027 elections.
Atiku made the allegation while participating as a panellist at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, held in Abuja on Monday.
The conference was organized by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, the Centre for Democracy and Development, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa, and the National Peace Committee.
Atiku, speaking on the country’s democratic trajectory, alleged that some opposition party leaders openly confessed to receiving N50 million each from the current government.
He warned that Nigeria’s democracy was at risk if the country continued on its current path.
In response, Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, dismissed Atiku’s accusations as “bogus and laughable,” labeling them a sign of the former Vice President’s growing political desperation.
Morka further criticized Atiku for resorting to baseless allegations and rumors, which he described as unbecoming of someone who had held high office and had repeatedly contested for the presidency.
“Atiku’s allegation about the APC government paying out N50 million to opposition figures is absurd and entirely unfounded. It’s clear that Atiku’s desperation is responsible for the collapse of his party, the PDP,” Morka stated.
He also took issue with remarks made by Atiku, Labour Party leader Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who suggested that the APC might be behind the internal turmoil within opposition parties.
Morka accused these figures of deflecting blame for their own party’s disarray, pointing out their inability to manage their internal affairs.
“The ridiculous claims by Atiku, Peter Obi, and El-Rufai about the APC’s involvement in opposition crises are simply an excuse for their failure to handle their own political organizations. These leaders, who couldn’t govern their parties, now claim they are fit to govern the country. Atiku’s PDP is infamous for its power grabs in the South-West, and we will not forget how his former boss, Obasanjo, called elections a ‘do or die affair’ in a desperate attempt to control Lagos,” Morka concluded, stressing that Nigerians deserve better than this kind of political maneuvering.
