Usman Bugaje, a former House of Representatives member and presidential adviser, has charged that the ruling All Progressives Congress is orchestrating the defection of important members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party using financial inducements.
The claim was made by Bugaje in a Thursday aired interview on Arise TV.
He voiced his worries about Nigeria’s democracy and what he called the “monetization of politics.”
According to what he knows—and I don’t pretend to know everything—the APC is essentially buying off the PDP with money, he claimed.
He added that threats may occasionally be used to exert pressure on those who are the subject of investigations.
Naturally, they might threaten those who have records with the EFCC. They may engage in such behavior, and it has been the norm since President Obasanjo’s administration,” he continued.
Bugaje emphasized that the underlying problem is that money has taken on a prominent role in political loyalty, cautioning that such developments may portend the death of democracy.
The death of democracy and the end of politics will occur as long as money remains the decisive issue. We would be traveling in a totally different direction, perhaps toward Fujimori and Peru,” he stated.
In response to the recent wave of mass defections in Delta State, Umar Damagum, the acting national chairman of the PDP, stated that the party was not prepared for the departures but that Nigerians and the APC would compete in the next election.
Bugaje, however, described the PDP’s response as weak. He argued that the PDP had already lost its ability to function as an opposition party, citing internal failures and a lack of resolve.
“There has not been opposition right from the time the Minister Wike did what he did. PDP has lost that opportunity to become an opposition party,” he stated.
He cited poor conduct by PDP members in national matters such as emergency rule debates and budget sessions, claiming that the party had failed to hold government to account.
Bugaje also pointed to structural flaws within Nigeria’s political parties, recalling his own experience during the merger that formed the APC. He said efforts to introduce merit-based criteria for party leadership were thwarted.
“We should develop a criteria for people who are going to hold responsibilities of the party. They all opposed it, except a few of us,” Bugaje said, adding that personal political interests had overshadowed institutional development.
He warned that the dominance of transactional relationships in party politics, where loyalty is exchanged for money or influence, has eroded the values of political engagement.
The individuals in authority now are those who lack the moral fiber to throw a party and the education necessary to comprehend the consequences of some of their actions,” he remarked.
Bugaje reaffirmed his long-standing objection to these practices in his closing remarks.
“I did my best to fight this. When I realized that, I backed down, but I got my point across. “If you have qualified individuals with integrity and a strong enthusiasm for the party, you can be certain that it will continue to exist,” he remarked.
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