From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The battle to wrest the 2027 presidential ticket from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by the National Opposition Coalition Group (NOCG) moved into high gear on Wednesday when the national leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) formally handed over the mantle of leadership to the coalition force.
In attendance during the handing-over ceremony were former presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, former governors including Rotimi Amaechi, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Aminu Tambuwal, Liyel Imoke, Gabriel Suswam, Abdulfatai Ahmed, and Chukwuemeka Ihedioha, past and present National Assembly members, Senator Tony Nwoye, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh, and Dino Melaye.
Other heavyweight party chieftains in attendance were former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, former APC national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, his PDP counterpart, Uche Secondus, and former ministers including Solomon Dalung, among others.
Speaking in his opening remarks, the interim national chairman of the ADC and former Senate President, David Mark, accused the President Bola Tinubu-led APC of leading Nigeria into a crippling democratic dictatorship.
While admitting that it would be a difficult journey for the ADC, Mark said: “Let it be known to all that this coalition of national political opposition groups goes beyond gaining political power. It is a concerted effort to rebuild the crumbling pillars of Nigeria’s democracy. Today marks the beginning of what we believe will be a long, difficult, and tedious journey.
“However, it is a journey that we are prepared to undertake, united in our collective belief that no price or sacrifice is too high in the service of our fatherland. It is on record that within two years of the current administration coming to power, we have observed with absolute dismay the hijack of all democratic institutions and a creeping descent into total civilian dictatorship.
“The blatant destabilisation and infiltration of all major opposition political parties is aimed at achieving only one objective, to enhance total state capture and leave Nigerians with no alternative or options come 2027.
“This coalition is to prevent our country’s descent into a one-party state. We have never seen a government so much at home with corruption, a government that disdains accountability in all ramifications. A government more concerned with the next election rather than the survival of ordinary Nigerians. A government so totally consumed with politicking that governance is abandoned, while the majority of our people wallow in hunger and poverty.
“We have never seen this level of insecurity across the length and breadth of our nation. Bandits and kidnappers kill Nigerians at will and on a daily basis. Yet, this ongoing tragedy has not moved the government to any action that would stop these mindless killings and stem the tide of needless bloodshed. Indeed, the Nigerian people deserve a government that protects them and makes them feel safe in their own homes,” he lamented.
Speaking further, the former military governor of Niger State said: “Equally disturbing is the total emasculation of the legislative institution. Never in our history have we witnessed a National Assembly where legislators, the trustees of the very bastion of our democracy, saddled with the sacred duty to protect Nigerians from misuse of executive power, are reduced to cheerleaders and praise singers of the President, head of the executive arm.
“Without doubt, the transformation of Nigeria’s National Assembly into a mere appendage of presidential authority is a dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people. It is the reason why the government is able to get away with various whimsical, unconstitutional policies and actions or inactions that have reduced more Nigerians to abject poverty and widened the boundaries of insecurity and fear.
“It is imperative to state that our democracy has a history, which is the reason why we all affirm that the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain. Today, the labour of our heroes is under vicious attack, and our Republic faces a mortal danger,” he lamented.
