Wednesday, 30th June 2021: The ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) differs from the opposition party as it  dismissed allegations ascribing the defections of some governors from the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) to a plot to rig the 2023 General Elections.

Rather, the APC said “Strong internal democracy, transparency and fairness in the conduct of its affairs, which are demonstrably lacking in the PDP, are additional reasons that make the APC a better option for Nigerians, including serving State Governors, National and State Assembly members who are abandoning the PDP and joining the APC.

APC in a statement by its interim National Secretary, John Akpanudoedehe, on Wednesday, rejected the allegation of planned manipulation of the 2023 elections made by Mr Secondus.

He claimed the deserting members from the PDP, including the governors, are joining the APC “due to the former’s lack of democratic and fairness of assessment.”

“We want to remind Nigerians that while many APC members were victims of rigging when the PDP was in power, the APC has no record of rigging elections. The Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has introduced electoral reforms aimed at ensuring that all loopholes that open the electoral process to possible abuse in future elections are sealed and eliminated,” the party interim secretary said.

Mr Akpanudoedehe said the now main opposition party “has been doomed to fail because its unity was rooted in its access to national resources”.

The PDP suffered yet another blow on Tuesday with the defection of the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, to the APC.

In a reaction, the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, said the party was unperturbed by Mr Matawalle’s defection nor by that of previous governors. He accused the ruling party of recruiting them (governors) to rig coming elections.

Mr Secondus had threatened to explore all legal means to retrieve the PDP mandate given by the Supreme Court to Mr Matawalle after the 2019 elections in Zamfara State.