The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Bashiru, has dismissed allegations that the ruling party is working to weaken opposition parties, saying those making such claims are responsible for their own internal problems.
Bashiru made the remarks during a media chat aired live on several television stations on Wednesday night, where he argued that the difficulties facing some opposition parties stem from their failure to manage their affairs in line with the law.
He said, “Now, talking about frustrating opposition as at the last count, we have no less than 19 registered political parties in Nigeria. And the political parties that are claiming that they have problems, they are not up to four or five. So, majority of Nigerian political parties don’t have any problems.
“Speaking of facts, out of 19 or so political parties, four have issues. The question you ask them is that, are they conducting affairs using the framework of the law in order not to continue to have such a problem.”
Bashiru rejected suggestions that the APC was behind disputes within opposition parties, pointing to ongoing legal battles involving some parties as matters arising from their own internal processes.
“Then if you say APC is the source of the problem, have you seen any APC member challenging internal processes of other political parties? Supreme Court of Nigeria say that they rejected application yesterday on stay of execution of an existing judgement of the Court of Appeal, which says that status quo ante bellum should be maintained in the case of the two factions of the ADC.
“…The question is, where is the hand of APC in that regard? And some other political parties like even the Peoples Democratic Party. The faction of Peoples Democratic Party, they appear at the Supreme Court too.”
He further said the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant certain applications by affected parties showed that judicial decisions should not be politicised.
“And Supreme Court refused to grant them stay of execution, and said we have granted assiduous hearing of their proceedings, and put a date for them to be able to approve themselves and come to that regard.
“So we cannot be casting aspersions on the issue of judiciary and issue of democracy, just to serve interests of the few,” he added.
The comments come amid growing political tensions ahead of the 2027 general elections, with internal leadership disputes affecting several opposition parties across the country.
