ABUJA, Nigeria (CHATNEWSTV) — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is offering N50 million to opposition parties to weaken their resolve ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking Monday at a national conference on democracy in Abuja, Mr. Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, claimed he was informed directly by an opposition party leadership about the payments.
“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,” Mr. Abubakar said. “Where do we go from here? This means that 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.”
The conference, themed “Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria,” was organized by several civil society groups, including the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LS), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).
Mr. Abubakar warned that Nigeria’s democratic system faces a critical threat. “We really are at a crossroads in this democratic experiment. We either decide we want to be democratic or we decide to abandon it,” he said.
Recalling his own struggles for democracy, Mr. Abubakar said, “I have been in this struggle for over 30 years. An attempt was made on my life, and I escaped. I went into exile, but I never gave up. My businesses were taken over, and I am still surviving. So, you need to make up your mind. I am not doing it for myself. For me, I have lived my life. I am doing it because of you.”
The former vice president also lamented the erosion of party independence and the challenges facing political parties in Nigeria. “Governance dictates to the political parties, whereas political parties should have been directing governance on what should be done,” he said.
Mr. Abubakar called for unity among opposition parties and emphasized the need for sustainable party funding. “As El-Rufai said, there is a need for the entire opposition political parties to think of a way out of the situation. Otherwise, we may end up with no democracy at all. God forbid,” he added.
