{"id":127292,"date":"2026-05-28T00:56:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=127292"},"modified":"2026-05-28T00:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:56:33","slug":"opposition-crisis-fuelled-by-apc-inec-atiku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/opposition-crisis-fuelled-by-apc-inec-atiku\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition Crisis Fuelled\u00a0 by APC, INEC,\u2014 Atiku"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that the leadership crises currently affecting opposition political parties are being deliberately orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and some elements within the judiciary.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He made the allegation on Thursday in his acceptance speech after being declared winner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, where he emerged as the party\u2019s flag bearer for the upcoming general elections.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Speaking after his victory, Atiku described the ADC as a coalition built through \u201chard work, immense sacrifices and compromises,\u201d adding that it is driven by a determination to restore and defend Nigeria\u2019s democratic system.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He commended the conduct of the primary, insisting that the ADC has demonstrated internal democracy in contrast to what he described as the weakening of democratic values in the broader political space.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He said: \u201cWe demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti-democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress. In our party, members are allowed to express their views, to have ambitions and to contest for elective positions in a free, fair and transparent process.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOur great party is a coalition built through hard work, immense sacrifices and compromises, guided by our determination to rescue our country\u2019s democracy which is facing its greatest threat since the return to democratic rule in 1999.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAs I speak, virtually all opposition political parties in the country have leadership crisis engineered by the APC government, the INEC and elements in the judiciary. And opposition figures continue to be harassed and intimidated, including those languishing in detention, such as Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who distinguished himself as a public servant, including as a Minister and two-term Governor of Kaduna State.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHe has been in detention for three months despite court orders granting him bail. He has been denied the right to celebrate two important religious holidays with his family in addition to being denied the opportunity to be by his mother\u2019s side as she took her last breath. All because he is a leading opposition figure! This kind of cruelty must stop.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe government continues to harass, intimidate and coerce opposition politicians to join the APC using the security agencies as well as the agencies which were set up by a previous government to fight corruption. Under this government, once a person joins the APC, the harassment ceases and the charges against them magically disappear. This abuse of power must stop.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGreat care was taken to ensure that due diligence was done in the process of forming this coalition. Yet the government and the INEC continue to undermine it, even attempting to deregister it. Let me warn that any further attempt to interfere in the affairs of the party by the Presidency, INEC and judiciary will be fiercely resisted. Enough is enough.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He, however, called for unity within the party, congratulating other contestants and stressing that the outcome of the primary should be seen as a collective effort rather than a contest of winners and losers.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Atiku said the party must now channel its energy toward what he described as the urgent task of rescuing Nigeria from a \u201ccorrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government,\u201d urging members to close ranks ahead of the general elections.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The National Chairman of the ADC, Sen. David Mark, also said the exercise was designed to demonstrate that democracy remains functional in Nigeria, noting that political competition should be anchored on principles rather than personality clashes, while insisting that the country still has a \u201cbright future\u201d despite its challenges.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that the leadership crises currently affecting opposition political parties are being deliberately orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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