APC not ready for credible polls, says Galadima
State chairmen of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), yesterday, visited former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at his Abuja residence to express their support to his mission to rescue the country from the stranglehold of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration.
But a chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, said the President Bola Tinubu administration was not ready to conduct a credible election in 2027.
Indeed, the APC boasted of having a very low defection rate compared to the number of people joining the party every day.
The chairmen alleged that the Tinubu-led administration derailed from the ideals of concern for the ordinary Nigerians, which they reckoned was the abiding principle of the initial APC administration.
After the meeting, Atiku reportedly explained to his guests how the coalition to sack Tinubu was conceived.
He said, “I took time to explain how efforts to create a coalition platform began. I also gave them the pledge that the coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is a people-powered political platform.
“I especially encouraged them to mobilise their supporters for the ongoing Voter Registration exercise.”
The former VP also disclosed that he met with the former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, in his Abuja residence.
“Last night, I played host to political stakeholders from Borno State, led by Mohammed Kumalia. The conversation with the Borno leaders centred more on the worsening security situation, especially in Northern Nigeria. The consensus is that the occupation of Nigerian territories across some parts of the North is a clear failure of political leadership, especially under the Tinubu-led APC Federal Government,” he added.
Galadima, in an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time yesterday, said: “This government is not ready to organise a free and fair election. From their antics, you know how they’re destabilising the parties. That suggests that they don’t want an opposition at all during the election.”
He warned against any plan to appoint a “controversial person” as the next chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying it could destabilise the country.
Responding to the issue of early campaigns by political parties, Galadima faulted INEC for failing to enforce campaign regulations. “This issue of campaigning before being allowed by INEC was started by the government of the day. That suggests that INEC cannot be an umpire in a political environment as we have today,” he said.
The National Chairman of APC, Prof NentaweYilwatda, stated yesterday, on ‘Sunrise Daily’, a programme on Channels Television, that they were equally engaging with those who left the party with the view of bringing them back, stressing that the “APC is still their home”.
He said, “We have minimal defection compared to people who are trooping in every day. If you look at the members of the National Assembly, Houses of Assembly and governors trooping into the APC from other political parties, it tells you that the APC is still the most preferred political party and we are still receiving more people.
“This shows the kind of popularity and acceptance the APC has. I cannot say that one or two persons from APC may want to move to the other side.”
Yilwatda declared that Nigerians who voted for Tinubu in 2023 would do the same in 2027, stressing that the President’s reforms were necessary and had already improved governance across the country.
