Prominent pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has raised alarm that the reported excessive tendencies of political corruption oozing out in a coordinated format from top officials in the Presidency are capable of destroying constitutional democracy in the Country if they are not immediately resisted and stopped.
Besides, HURIWA has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to speak out on the allegation of humongous bribes been paid out to force PDP governors and National Assembly members to cross over to the All Progressives Congress (APC). HURIWA lamented that the report might have some elements of validity given the formidable history of the factual accuracy of several exclusive copies published in recent times by the New York based SaharaReporters.
Other aspects of what it calls cocktails of political corruption allegedly amongst unnamed top officials in the Presidency include the revelation that Nigerians seeking audience with the President are forced to part with heavy amounts of bribes just as the allegation of financial inducement of opposition senators and federal house of representatives to cross carpet to the APC and pocket between N1 billion and N500 million is mind-boggling and if found to be true could truncate constitutional democracy. HURIWA calls directly on the President to address the report that Nigerians wanting to have audiences with him are routinely extorted by highly placed presidential aides as alleged by a ranking Senator of the Federal Republic Senator Ali Ndume who is the immediate past Senate leader. HURIWA said it has also heard that some politicians especially immediate past governors were extorted to the tunes of billions of Naira in dollars denomination with phantom promises by Presidency officials to facilitate their appointment as ministers under the current administration.
We in the organised civil society community in Nigeria are hereby challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to clarify what he knows regarding the fresh reports from inside the Presidency that revealed that the Bola Tinubu-led administration is allegedly running a massive financial inducement scheme aimed at luring opposition governors and lawmakers into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to exclusive information obtained by SaharaReporters , the ongoing wave of defections from opposition parties—especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—to the APC is being powered by what sources described as “jaw-dropping financial packages” coordinated directly from the Presidency.
Top insiders disclosed that the arrangement is supervised by senior government officials close to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who allegedly oversee both negotiations and disbursements.
One of the sources revealed that each state governor who defects to the APC receives a total package of ₦250 billion , split into two major tranches.
“The money is released in two tranches. There is A100 billion upfront as a ‘grant’ once commitment is shown, and the remaining A150 billion comes after the formal defection ceremony,” the source said.
The insider further added that the same financial incentive extends to federal lawmakers: senators allegedly receive N1 billion each, while members of the House of Representatives reportedly get #500 million each upon joining the APC.
The claims come amid a fresh wave of defections by PDP governors and key opposition leaders to the ruling party, a trend that has sparked national debate about Nigeria’s political integrity and the state of its Democracy.
In a media statement endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA blamed desperation by the incumbents at the Presidency, offices of governors and in the National Assembly to retain their political positions by all means for the growing trends of political corruption such as the reported financial inducement scheme put in place allegedly by the ruling political party to tempt unprincipled and corrupt minded political office holders elected under other opposition political parties to cross carpet into the All Progressives Congress.
HURIWA expressed disappointment that because the entire spectrum of anti-graft agencies and the policing institutions are domiciled under the command and control architecture of the office of the President of Nigeria, such callous and massive cases of political corruption such as financial inducement schemes for changing of political parties by elected opposition from their own party to the All Progressives Congress are overlooked. We warn that overlooking these well coordinated organised political corruption is very dangerous.
“HURIWA is hereby warning that should these acts of political corruption become normalised by the current administration, then we can as well get ready to witness the destruction and demolition of constitutional democracy because bribing politicians to walk away from their political parties to jump into the political party controlling the federal government just for the purpose of facilitating electoral victory by all crooked means for the incumbent president would have a serious damaging consequences over the long run which is capable of derailing constitutional democracy. This corrupt practice of financial inducement for cross carpeting into APC is self-destructive inevitably.”
*COMRADE EMMANUEL NNADOZIE ONWUBIKO,
