From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the claim by former vice president Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria is sliding into a one-party state.
The ruling party also told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate that it is strengthening democracy in the country not stifling it as he claimed.
Atiku had while hosting the National Executive Council of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC) on Tuesday, accused APC of “increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party”.
However, replying him, APC, in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, reminded him that PDP’s brigandage, impunity and profligacy of 16 years still remained unforgettable.
Chiding Atiku further, the ruling party quipped that PDP has sustained its free fall into the abyss of quicksand by its intractable internal contradictions and impoverished leadership.
It further noted that it has also received the former Vice President’s charge to opposition political parties to rally together to engage in opposition politics.
APC furtger argued that a party that has implemented far-reaching reform of the Electoral Act and introduced technological innovations, including the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), aimed at improving electoral transparency and deepening our democracy, cannot contemplate turning Nigeria into a one-party state.
The statement read: “Exasperated by the drooping fortunes of his PDP, Atiku has opined that Nigeria was sliding into a one-party state. It is pitiful that a statesman of Atiku’s standing would so easily conflate the wide acceptance of our great party among Nigerians with his irrational fear of one-party dictatorship.
“Perhaps, the Turakin Adamawa needs to be reminded that Nigerians are highly percipient and can differentiate between political deviance of PDP and demonstrable commitment of APC to deepening democracy and fostering our common good,” APC noted in the statement.
Going history lane, the ruling party recalled that; “before its epic defeat in 2015, the PDP proclaimed and flaunted its plan to rule Nigeria for a minimum of 60 years. At that time, Atiku was willfully blind to fear of a PDP one-party dictatorship but now appears to be under the influence of a distorted vision inflicted by the debilitating serial trouncing of his party at the polls.
“The PDP’s brigandage, impunity and profligacy of 16 years remain unforgettable. In its brief period at the helm, APC has implemented far-reaching reform of the Electoral Act and introduced technological innovations, including BVAS and IReV all aimed at improving electoral transparency and deepening our democracy.
“Remarkably, Atiku and his PDP have not only consistently failed at the polls, they have proved incapable of offering a credible alternative political vision as expected of an opposition party. Instead, the PDP has sustained its free fall into the abyss of quicksand by its intractable internal contradictions and impoverished leadership.
“The PDP’s flagrant disregard for due process, another of its bane, is the reason the party fielded its National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, as governorship candidate in Imo state in the just-concluded off-season governorship election. As candidate, Anyanwu failed to resign his position as National Secretary as required by law.
“Is it any wonder that the Imo electorate rejected Anyanwu, who clearly did not have confidence in his own candidacy to quit his position as a party officer? Anyanwu’s greedy disposition has reportedly sparked a fresh round of leadership imbroglio at the “Wadata House of Commotion”, it chided further.
APC, equally gave him words of advice, noting: “We urge Atiku to concentrate on repairing his damaged political psyche and attempt to revive his comatose PDP and leave APC out of their combined predicament.
“However, we welcome the former Vice President’s charge to opposition political parties to rally together to engage in opposition politics.
“On our part, President Bola Tinubu will continue, undisturbed, to justify his electoral promises in the Renewed Hope Agenda as he builds a safer, stronger and economically vibrant country for the benefit of all. That is what Nigerians care about, that is what they deserve,” the statement read.