The Democratic Front (TDF) has dismissed as unwarranted the statement credited to the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) criticising the endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, TDF noted that CUPP was in no position to dabble in the internal affairs of the ruling party.
The statement read in part: “We condemn, in the strongest terms, the unwarranted criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s endorsement by governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by what we consider as the rump of the defunct Coalition of United Political Party (CUPP).
“It has come to our notice that the rump of the defunct CUPP has been actively criticising the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even when there is no justification for it.
“Like an attention-seeking meddlesome interloper, the group described the endorsement of President Tinubu by his party members as their flag bearer in the 2027 presidential election as a “desperate bid for power.”
“While we are not opposed to CUPP’s right to self-expression as provided by the Nigerian constitution, we expect the leadership of the political interest group, to show respect for APC’s right to conduct its internal affairs within the limit of its constitution.
“We recall that in the run-up to the presidential elections in 2019, the then CUPP and its leadership threw its support behind the candidature of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in a glaring exercise of its constitutional rights to freedom of expression and association.
“And of course, it backed Labour Party’s Peter Obi in 2023 especially as its National Secretary, Peter Amen, even contested for a seat in the House of Representatives in Kogi state on LP’s platform. So, it is clear that the current CUPP leadership has always been opposing the ruling party.
“Furthermore, the CUPP should be reminded that APC has a precedence of picking an incumbent president as its presidential flag bearer through the consensus of members of the Party.
“So for us in the TDF, CUPP’s stance on APC’s internal affairs of the APC amounts to overstepping its boundaries as well as a flagrant disregard for the constitutional rights of others.
“We therefore urge Nigerians to see the CUPP for what it is: a partisan opposition to the ruling APC. It is simply a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) concocted with a narrow mindset to achieve personal political aggrandizement.”
TDF added that there was absolutely nothing wrong with President Tinubu’s endorsement at the recent APC summit because it is the party’s internal affairs even though it is yet to conduct its primaries and national convention
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