The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of wasting public funds on its rally in Kaduna, saying the event failed to address Nigerians’ concerns over insecurity and poverty.

The party said the rally was an attempt to create an impression of popular support for the APC despite what it described as the administration’s poor record in tackling the country’s challenges.

PRP National Chairman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, in a statement on Thursday said Nigerians could see through what he called an attempt to use money to cover up the government’s failures.

He described the rally as an expensive exercise, alleging that the APC leadership believed spending public resources on the event would make Nigerians forget the levels of poverty and insecurity in the country.

“The nation watched with deep concern, the clumsy and outrageously -expensive failure of the APC to sell deep unpopularity to a hostile nation. The lessons of Kaduna are many. One is that APC cannot paper-over its failed stewardship and record with money. Nigerians could see through the charade which was clutching at straws to create fictions that offend our sensitivities.

“Another is the tragic standard against which the APC leadership holds Nigerians. Then, even more worrying, it is safe to assume that APC leaders will continue to spend more and more of public resources to engage embattled Nigerians with their fiction of enjoying popular support.

“Finally the brief glimpses of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu at the Kaduna rally suggested that patriotic demand that he should submit himself to close medical scrutiny and management. A nation desperately needing strong, healthy and focussed leadership such as ours cannot continue to avoid advising Mr President to ensure that he has the best health available for a stressed and aging leader.”

Baba-Ahmed expressed concern over the security situation in Kaduna, alleging that while the APC held its rally, bandits were abducting residents from their homes in the state capital.

He said villagers in different parts of the country continued to suffer the consequences of the government’s failure to protect them, adding that Nigerians were being forced to pay ransoms and endure killings and kidnappings.

The PRP chairman condemned the killing of Sheikh Yahaya Masussuka at his residence in Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

He said the incident underscored the need for the government to guarantee the safety of citizens, regardless of political activities.

The party argued that Nigerians would not be reassured by political rallies while they continued to live in fear and uncertainty over their security and economic conditions.

Baba-Ahmed warned that the APC should not mistake its rally for evidence of widespread public support, insisting that the country’s challenges could not be resolved through political displays.

He added that the PRP expected the 2027 general election to provide an opportunity for a change in leadership, while urging the government to protect Nigerians and ensure they could live with dignity until then.