The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of parading what it described as “imaginary” defectors after the ruling party claimed that some House of Assembly candidates from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara States had joined its ranks.
The ADC said the individuals presented by the APC were neither its candidates nor leaders, alleging that the ruling party had attached ADC identities to people who had no such standing within the opposition party.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC challenged the APC to provide evidence of the political credentials attributed to the alleged defectors.
“The APC cannot assemble random individuals at its secretariat, confer imaginary ADC credentials on them and then announce their defection,” Abdullahi said.
He added that while the APC chairman was free to receive visitors at the party’s secretariat, such individuals should not be presented to Nigerians as ADC candidates.
“These people are not our candidates,” the party said.
The ADC also rejected the APC’s claim that the alleged defectors were motivated by what the ruling party described as the Federal Government’s “remarkable transformation” of Northern Nigeria.
The opposition party questioned how such claims translated into improved living conditions for Nigerians dealing with rising food prices, insecurity and increasing household expenses.
“Having invented ADC credentials for its guests, the APC has supplied an equally imaginative account of its performance over the past few years,” the ADC said.
The party challenged the APC to identify the offices the alleged defectors held within the ADC, the constituencies they supposedly represented and the periods during which they occupied such positions.
“The APC should state the ADC offices these individuals supposedly held, the constituencies they represented as our candidates and when they held those positions,” the party said.
The ADC said Nigerians were more interested in evidence of improved living conditions than political events and photographs involving alleged defectors.
“Nigerians are asking for evidence of better lives; the APC is manufacturing photographs and congratulating itself,” the party said.
