A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Farouk Aliyu, has said the ruling party would have liked to win the recently conducted gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
Aliyu made the remarks on Monday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show, amid claims that Nigeria is drifting toward a one-party state.
According to him, there was no agreement between the Federal Government and any state to force political alignment, stressing that Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s decision to support President Bola Tinubu was made independently.
He said the APC contested in Anambra and lost, adding that the outcome should be accepted as part of the democratic process.
Aliyu also dismissed allegations that anti-corruption agencies were being weaponised against opposition figures, insisting that prosecutions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) were based on allegations and evidence, not party affiliation.
He said: “Well, about a one-party state, you know, it’s really very subjective because there is no coercion, absolutely no coercion. Your colleague who left here before I came mentioned what happened in Anambra State. I mean, there is no deal between our government and any of these states.
So, in his wisdom, Governor Soludo decided to say he was going to support Mr. President. And we would have loved to take Anambra State, which means APC, our people, should win that contest. We lost, and that’s it.
“So, any of these governors that, you know, come to us, do we tell them, ‘No, don’t come?’ There is no coercion.
And if anybody talks about being victimized by the anti-corruption agencies, the question you should put to them is: Are there grounds? Is it true? Are there allegations? These are allegations.
As of today, there are senior members of our party, the APC, who have been prosecuted by EFCC or ICPC. But you know, it’s part of the opposition. I mean, I don’t blame them, they can say whatever they want to say, but there is no evidence whatsoever to show that we are weaponising the EFCC against anyone in this country, for that matter.”
