At a national conference on strengthening democracy in Abuja, former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of allegedly paying N50 million to opposition leaders to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process.
Atiku warned that urgent action must be taken to prevent a collapse of Nigeria’s democracy. He criticized the National Assembly for acting as a “rubber stamp” for the government and expressed doubts about the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral body.
According to Atiku: “I want to say it here publicly. I met with a political party leadership in the present opposition, and they told me flatly that this government gives them N50 million each.“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. Do we really want to fight for democracy?”
Atiku urged opposition parties to unite, drawing on his own long history of fighting for democracy and highlighting the need for integrity in the electoral process, citing the example of Turkey’s election body’s refusal to declare a president-elect who did not meet the required vote threshold.
“If we don’t unite and take action, we may end up with no democracy at all. God forbid,” Atiku said.
