Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has made serious allegations against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, claiming that opposition leaders are being paid ₦50 million each to whittle-down anti-government actions.
Atiku alleged this on Monday in Abuja at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), and the National Peace Committee (NPC).
The former VP was a panellist at the event alongside former governors and ministers, Nasir el-Rufa’i and Rotimi Amaechi.
Speaking, Atiku raised the alarm, alleging that the country is being steered in the direction of losing democracy by the present government. He accused the government of bribing opposition members with ₦50m each to shut up opposing views and actions, thereby undermining Nigeria’s democratic process.
He said, “I want to say it here publicly. I met with the political party leadership in the present opposition, and they told me flatly that this Government gives them ₦50 million each.
“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 ₦50 million from the APC government”.
The ex-PDP presidential candidate remarked: “Do we really want to fight for democracy? If we don’t, we all go back to our homes. But if we do, 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”.
