The All-Progressives Grand Alliance has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to back his claims that President Bola Tinubu has been bribing opposition parties with N50m to buy their silence.
Atiku who was the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the 2023 elections made the allegations Monday during a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja.
But APGA said the allegations was baseless. APGA national publicity secretary, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, made the party’s position known in a statement Thursday.
“APGA is compelled to respond to the baseless allegation made by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, claiming that the ruling APC is buying over opposition parties with N50 million.
“We condemn this assertion in the strongest terms, as it is without any proof or substance. It is unfortunate that Atiku has resorted to spreading unfounded rumours, which only serves to heat up the polity and undermine the country’s democratic process,” the statement read.
APGA demanded that Atiku name the political parties that had allegedly received the funds or withdraw his claim.
“If indeed Atiku’s interest is to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, we urge him to provide specific details of the opposition parties that have collected the said N50 million. It’s time for him to put up or shut up!”
“We challenge Atiku to mention names, provide evidence, and substantiate his claims. Anything short of this is mere political grandstanding, which will not be taken seriously by Nigerians,” the statement added.
