Former Niger State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of betraying Nigerians, alleging that the party would be unable to win the 2027 general elections without rigging.
Vatsa, who resigned from the APC last week after 13 years of membership, made the allegations on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Minna on the reasons for his departure.
The former party chieftain described the APC-led administration as worse than military rule, arguing that the government had failed to deliver meaningful progress since taking power in 2015.
He alleged that the party had abandoned the principles on which it was founded and failed to fulfil the promises that earned it public support.
According to Vatsa, attempts by him and other party members to draw the government’s attention to its unfulfilled electoral promises through press statements and other interventions had yielded no results.
He said his continued membership had become difficult to justify to Nigerians who voted for the APC in 2015, insisting that he could not point to meaningful projects initiated by the party’s administrations in Niger State and across the country.
“The maladministration of the APC government has reached historically unprecedented heights, far beyond the vices and challenges that made Nigerians vote the PDP out in 2015,” he said.
Vatsa further alleged that corruption, electoral malpractice and democratic abuses had worsened under the APC, accusing the government of repeatedly blaming previous administrations for the country’s current difficulties.
He also criticised what he described as the growing influx of former opposition politicians into the APC, saying the party was relying on individuals it had previously accused of mismanaging the country to strengthen its chances ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Today, it is only about 10 per cent of the founding members of the party that are in government and holding key positions. The rest are the same PDP elements that destroyed the country,” he claimed.
The former commissioner, who also served as a special adviser on media and communication to Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, said he had no regrets about joining the APC at its formation but could no longer overlook what he considered a departure from its founding ideals.
He maintained that political leaders should be guided by principles and integrity, explaining that his resignation was informed by his unwillingness to remain associated with a party whose actions he could no longer defend.
“Some of us have morality and integrity to protect. That is why I decided to call it a day with APC, because the water you cannot drink, you don’t wash your face with it,” he said.
### Vatsa Faults Niger Government’s Projects, Agriculture Programme
Turning to Niger State, Vatsa questioned the use of public resources, citing what he described as abandoned and uncompleted projects despite substantial allocations from the Federation Account and loans incurred by the state government.
He also dismissed the state government’s “New Niger” slogan as inconsistent with conditions on the ground.
The former commissioner equally raised concerns about the state’s agricultural initiative, known as Niger Foods, alleging that billions of naira had been spent without corresponding results in food production.
He claimed that the programme, which was presented as a strategy to strengthen food security, had failed to deliver the expected harvests.
“Billions have gone down the drain, but no single grain has been harvested in the last three years plus. It is a monumental fraud,” he alleged.
Vatsa’s claims about the APC, the Niger State government’s projects and its agricultural programme were allegations made during his briefing. The claims were not independently verified in the account provided.