Galadima alleges N2bn, N500m bribes to make APC win 2027 unopposed
By KEMI KASUMU
“I have said on several occasions that President Tinubu and all his governors are afraid of contesting and they want to win unopposed. That’s why they accumulated such an enormous amount of money to be used in buying people.”
Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), has made what he described as serious revelations, alleging that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), of which Tinubu is the leader, are using public resources to allegedly induce opposition candidates to step aside ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Galadima made the allegations during a globally watched programme on Arise Television, in a video meticulously watched and reported by The DEFENDER Newspaper.
According to Galadima: “If you can observe, we are only 100 days away from the general elections, yet the election fever has not caught the country at all. Like every politician except those in power. Because, as I speak to you, I don’t think there is any candidate outside APC that is sure of contesting this election.
“And there are several reasons. The APC itself is not letting it go, and they are using all available resources, good and bad, in fact, more so good than anything.
“I will start by telling you a story. As we speak now, if you go to Carlton Hotel in Asokoro, there is a lady from Zamfara who is sharing money.
“You can’t believe it, Charles. Even you cannot believe it, let alone your father; he would just faint and die immediately if he hears about that, that she is paying. And this is proving me right. I have said on several occasions that President Tinubu and all his governors are afraid of contesting and they want to win unopposed.
“That’s why they accumulated such an enormous amount of money to be used in buying people.
“And I can say what happens: every member of the House of Assembly who agrees to forfeit his ticket and withdraw for an APC candidate is being given N50 million by the lady.
“There are a lot of security people, DSS people and everybody in the hotel if you go now.
“In fact, she just held a meeting about three, four days ago with Professor Nengtawe, the Chairman of APC, showing some candidates who have forfeited their rights to contest elections. They wrote resignation and they collected money.
“Every House of Reps member who agrees to let go his candidature will be given N200 million with a car, and several have collected, and they are still collecting from state to state.”
When he was interjected for clarification and asked whether he meant that people from other parties were being induced to step aside so that APC candidates could become unopposed, Galadima, during the nationally and internationally viewed Arise News programme, replied: “Yes,” adding, “I said you should go there now.”
The dramatic part came when Charles, the interview anchor, said: “Well, I can’t. I am doing this programme right now.”
Galadima then told him: “Then accept what I tell you.”
He, however, said he understood his interviewer because his submissions, which he described as nothing but facts, could put Arise Television in trouble with the ruling party.
Continuing, when asked as an NDC member why he believed the NDC and ADC were being targeted, he said: “Most especially.”
Asked further if he knew anybody who had been targeted and stepped aside from the NDC, he said: “I know people who attended the meeting and they have clips of that meeting, from the NDC. They report back to us.
“If you are contesting for Senate, you’re N500 million plus a Jeep. If you are contesting for governor and you want to withdraw, it’s N2 billion plus a Jeep. When did politics become Arariya market or Sabon Gari market or Oshodi market in Lagos?”
When the interviewer declared a disclaimer on the information provided by Galadima because there was no immediate evidence to back up the allegations, he said: “I want you, as an investigative journalist, to investigate the veracity of my claims. I may be wrong, but this is the information we have.”
He went further: “And not only that, there are blocks out in the paths of the opposition. This APC and its government do not want any opposition person to contest in any part of the country. As they are stoned wherever they go, they also want to make life impossible for those opposite them.”
At a point, the interviewer told Galadima that he had evidence from what he was saying, citing instances where some states had officially said that people could not come to their states without obtaining permission.
Responding to this, Galadima retorted: “Then, is that the democracy you learnt from your room?”
The interviewer answered: “Clearly, it’s not, because everybody has the right to go anywhere in this country.”
The programme became more interactively engaging, however, as Galadima asked: “Why should we call it democracy? We can just as well call it fascism or dictatorship or monarchy. They can’t claim to be democrats and not imbibe the tenets of democracy.”
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO OF INTERVIEW
