The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of coercing opposition governors into its presidential campaign council, alleging that the ruling party is undermining Nigeria’s multiparty democracy ahead of the 2027 general election.
The ADC Presidential Campaign Council’s Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, made the allegation in a statement reacting to the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ologbondiyan accused the ruling party of using state power to pressure opposition governors into its fold or include them in its campaign structure despite their continued membership of other political parties.
“What we are witnessing is not politics but political abduction. You cannot claim to be a democrat while using state power to force opposition governors into your party and then drafting them into your campaign council. This is political banditry,” he said.
The ADC spokesman also alleged that the APC was pursuing a political agenda aimed at concentrating power in the hands of one individual, claiming that national institutions, security agencies and the judiciary were being deployed to weaken opposition forces.
He urged Nigerians to resist what he described as an attempt to establish an immoral political order driven by the desire to retain power at the expense of citizens’ welfare.
Ologbondiyan further accused the ruling party of neglecting the economic hardship, hunger and insecurity confronting Nigerians while focusing on its political interests.
“These particular sets of leaders don’t care about the current conditions of the people but how best to remain in power at a time when average Nigerians find it difficult to eat and be secure,” he said.
He also alleged that the country’s democratic space was shrinking, citing what he described as the suppression of dissenting voices, harassment of opposition figures and the weakening of democratic institutions for partisan purposes.
“Never in our democratic journey have we witnessed this level of intolerance and desperation. The APC government has weaponised poverty, hunger and insecurity to subjugate Nigerians and cripple the opposition,” Ologbondiyan said.
He added that the situation was inconsistent with the democratic ideals for which late politician Moshood Abiola and other pro-democracy figures fought.
The ADC spokesman also promoted the party’s presidential ticket of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, describing them as having the experience and democratic credentials to address the country’s challenges.
“Atiku Abubakar is a democrat to the core. He has the national spread, the capacity and the will to reunite Nigeria and restore our battered democracy,” he said.
The ADC Presidential Campaign Council called on Nigerians, media organisations, civil society groups and the international community to oppose what it described as the APC’s anti-democratic agenda and support efforts to protect multiparty democracy.
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