The All Progressives Congress on Tuesday criticised the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Tanimu Turaki, describing his appeal for foreign intervention in Nigeria’s political dispute as reckless and unpatriotic.
Turaki had earlier urged United States President Donald Trump to “save democracy in Nigeria” amid the escalating leadership battle within the PDP.
In a statement released in Abuja, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Turaki’s comments amounted to inviting foreign interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs, warning that such statements undermine the nation’s sovereignty.
“For a man declared National Chairman barely 72 hours ago by a faction of his deeply fractured party, Turaki looked and sounded desperate, at his wits’ end, confused, incoherent, and grossly lacking in stamina and capacity to manage his party’s crisis,” the APC said.
The ruling party maintained that Turaki should have focused on uniting the PDP’s warring blocs rather than seeking international involvement in what it described as a purely internal matter.
“Turaki’s first official act as factional chairman was his call for foreign invasion of Nigeria as a solution to the self-inflicted internal crisis of his PDP. That is as shameless as it is a dangerous threat to national security and sovereignty,” the statement added.
The criticism followed Turaki’s remarks earlier on Tuesday after clashes erupted at the PDP national secretariat between the faction loyal to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the faction backed by Governors Bala Mohammed, Seyi Makinde, Ahmadu Fintiri and Caleb Muftwang.
Addressing journalists after the confrontation, Turaki said, “I want to call on President Trump. What is at stake is not just a genocide against Nigerian Christians.
“He should come and save democracy in Nigeria. Democracy is under threat. I am calling on all other developed nations, all advanced democracies. Come and save Nigeria, come and save democracy.”
He also accused Wike—expelled from the PDP at the weekend—of storming the secretariat with supporters and security personnel to disrupt the planned National Executive Committee meetings.
The APC argued that Turaki’s comments exposed the PDP’s inability to resolve its internal crises, saying the appeal to foreign powers should be viewed as a final sign of the opposition party’s collapse.
“We trust the international community to dismiss the PDP’s disgraceful and unpatriotic call as a pitiful distraction from the failure of its internal democracy and embarrassing disintegration,” the party said, urging citizens to remain steadfast in their support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
