From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Yabagi Sani, has accused President Bola Tinubu of fuelling the crises rocking opposition parties.
Tinubu, addressing a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, June 11, distanced himself from the crises affecting the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), and others.
But Sani, at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja, accused the president of being responsible for the crises in these embattled parties.
According to him, the president was shrinking the political space in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He called on Nigerians to reject all forms of state capture, especially in Rivers State, under the current administration, arguing that it is undemocratic.
He said, “Never again to the recycling of impunity. Never again to the return of dictatorship by other means.
“Let the lesson of June 12 be clear: when responsibility fails, accountability must rise. If we forget that, we dishonour the heroes who gave everything for the democracy we now take for granted. Let every citizen rise—for freedom, for justice, for Nigeria. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Bola Tinubu is dismembering the political space, and he is saying he’s not killing the political space. That is what I think is happening.
“The rhetoric does not match what their actions are. So this is why I believe he has to wake up to the fact that Nigeria of today is different from what it used to be.
“We do not want to lose this democracy. We’ve invested so much into it and that’s why we are saying what we are saying.
“Because he is a democrat, he knows what we are talking about. But perhaps because he has an echo chamber around him, in the sense that the only people he has good talks with are his cronies, he does not hear something different from another person.
“So saying that it’s not killing democracy or Nigeria is not moving towards a one-party state is a lie.
“It is a lie because as a president, I was even disappointed when he said that he’s praying that the opposition will be in disarray. I mean, when you’re a president of the country, at that point in time, you are not representing your party. You represent the interests of everybody, including the opposition and what have you.”
