The only people not worried about the shameful and dangerous path Nigeria’s Democracy is toeing at the moment are those in the corridors of power and their minions. Sixty-six years after our founding fathers gave us Independence from Colonial Britain, only the events predating the January 1966 Coup are worse than what is happening now, but only marginally.
What we are seeing today is a gradual erosion of public trust in the system, in governance and in all the institutions of state. The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, seems bent on destroying what is left of the country’s democracy by a very blatant attempt to establish a one party state. This is despite the multiplicity of parties in Nigeria. At the last count, there are twenty-one political parties in the country today. Yet, the ruling party is using all the powers it has to institute a one party state.
Of the 36 states, APC controls 31, leaving the remaining five to be shared by Accord Party,1 state; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, 1 state; Allied People’s Movement, APM, 1 state; Labour Party, 1 state; and People’s Democratic Party, PDP, 1 state. Even among these few states, at least two of the state governors are known to have sympathies for the ruling APC.
But still, the APC not only remains dissatisfied, but insecure. This is why the party has been systematically scheming to kill off the 2027 Presidential Election as a contest and thereby making it more like a coronation of the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of the yet to be held election.
To this end, it has been targeting the main opposition which converged under the umbrella of African Democratic Congress, APC. Clearly working with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, whose Chairman has been discovered to be a Tinubu loyalist, the APC first de-recognized the leadership of the ADC, despite a court ordering a return to status quo ante bellum.
The move, many believed, was to weaken the alliance and make its members unsure of the platform, especially those contesting the various elective positions. When this was challenged in the Supreme Court, the court referred the matter to the Court of Appeal, even though it recognized the leadership of Senator David Mark. This again was interpreted as a ploy by the APC to still portray an air of uncertainty about the party.
It was amid these shenanigans that the foremost Presidential Aspirant in ADC, Mr Peter Obi, defected to the National Democratic Congress, NDC. While this happened last Sunday, by the next day, one Dr Umar Ardo, supposedly a member of the NDC, called for the cancellation of the registration of the party, claiming they were already in court.
It is not difficult to guess that Ardo is dancing to the drum being beaten by elements in Aso Rock who are particularly desperate to torpedo the ambition of Obi who has been their main headache all the while. Should the court dabble into this matter, it is certain that another air of uncertainty will hang over NDC.
Now, this is becoming preposterous in a supposed democracy. Even the most backward countries allow for elections to be held even when they may be rigged. But in Nigeria, some people appear bent on not allowing other parties to be part of the 2027 Presidential Election. And to think that the ruling party has almost everything under wraps, it becomes strange why it is desperate to prevent the election from being a contest.
We warn that this portends a grave danger to the country’s democracy and this is the kind of situation that leads to a graver situation as was the case in some West African countries. Is this what the Nigerian Government wants? We therefore call on President Bola Tinubu to please allow the opposition to breathe as he was allowed to do when he was part of an opposition party. Nigerians should be allowed to exercise their power to choose whom they want. Tinubu should give us an election, rather than invite us to a coronation.
What is happening now is an ill wind that blows no one any good; if not now, then later.
