Before Atiku, Obi, other ADC leaders depart for UN, America
Not a few well-meaning Nigerians would be embarrassed by the sight of a procession led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Abuja on Wednesday, protesting the decision of the
Not a few well-meaning Nigerians would be embarrassed by the sight of a procession led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Abuja on Wednesday, protesting the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to obey an order of the Appeal Court that Atiku's party, the African Democratic Congress should return to the status quo ante belle in the leadership dispute that has engulfed it. Joining the ex-vice president were former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi; former Kano State governor and erstwhile leader of the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi; former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, and their cohorts in the ADC.
In a move betraying fear of defeat to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections, particularly the presidency, members of the beleaguered opposition party undertook a march to the headquarters of INEC in Abuja, chanting “Tinubu Must Go!” thus insinuating that the electoral umpire was being guided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to frustrate their party's preparations for the 2027 elections and turn the country into a one-party state.
But what are the facts? Some political entrepreneurs determined to actualise their presidential ambition after quitting their crisis-ridden parties hit on the idea of coming together to find a vehicle for the realisation of their dreams. But rather than muster the effort to found and build a new party through which their dreams could be realized, they hit on the idea of hijacking an existing one, muzzled out the existing leadership and took control without respect for the provisions of both the party's constitution which says you must be a member for two years before you can become a member of its executive and the 2026 Electoral Act which says you cannot hold a party's leadership position without being elected into it.
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Unfortunately, they met their albatross in an audacious youthful member of the party, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, who was determined to prove that party leadership or organisation is neither a question of wealth nor a question of age. He headed for the High Court with an ex parte motion for him to be recognised as the authentic party chairman as a deputy national chairman and the next in line to the one purported to have resigned to pave the way for the emergence of former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State governor Rafiu Aregbesola as the chairman and secretary of the party, respectively.
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For the sake of fairness, the High Court said Mark and other members of the new ADC leadership should be put on notice so they could come to the court to say why Gombe's prayers should not be answered. But rather than honour the High Court's summons, they headed for the Appeal Court, where their motion was dismissed as incompetent with an order that they should return to the High Court for the substantive case and with a proviso that the parties in dispute should maintain the status quo ante bellum, meaning the existing situation before the dispute. Based on the foregoing, INEC, in its wisdom, decided to derecognise Mark and Aregbesola's leadership and also decided not to deal with Gombe, even with a six-inch pole.
This became the basis for Wednesday's show of shame in Abuja, wherein supposed statesmen who have led the National Assembly, acted as state governors and functioned previously as party leaders decided on a march to INEC's office rather than settle their internal differences, blaming their plight on President Tinubu and the ruling party for the diarrhea they are suffering from the contaminated water they consumed. In a country that boasts no fewer than 22 registered political parties, they are accusing the President of foisting a one-party state on the people.
The claim of a one-party state is not only fatuous, it is fictitious and illogical. It is a mantra adopted by indolent and opportunistic political figures to veil their lack of vision and ideology. It also amounts to an insult on the integrity of the existing parties and disregard for the time, money and effort invested in those parties by their minders. The funniest of it all is the threat by the opposition party in question to take their case on the imaginary one-party state to the United Nations and the United States of America. Well, that sounds very much in sync with the mentality of paper tiger politicians who cannot settle the affairs of their parties internally.
The opposition seems to now live with the belief that Nigeria is an appendage of America. In November last year, members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) under the aegis of PDP Like-Mind Group staged a protest at the United States Embassy in Abuja, calling for international intervention to safeguard Nigeria's democracy from what they called an emerging one-party state. Led by one Moses Aliu, the protesters also visited the European Union (EU) mission, the Ministry of Justice and the office of the Inspector-General of Police, where they submitted protest letters, urging global partners to act swiftly to protect the nation's democratic institutions.
They all need to be reminded that Nigeria is a sovereign state capable of managing its affairs without meddling from external influences. No country or institution has the right to interfere in its internal affairs without the consent of its authorities.
