President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s remarks that he is happy to see opposition parties in crises had provoke condemnation from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and others.
Tinubu on Thursday told a joint session of the National Assembly on the occasion of Democracy Day celebration in Abuja, that he is pleased to see opposition parties in disarray.
Tinubu said he would not be the one address the crises in the opposition parties, but put their counselled them to assess their internal processes as part of a scheme to resolving their internal wranglings.
The opposition parties have consistently accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of instigating the crises in their folds, and allegation the APC has denied.
On the defections into the PAC, Tinubu said, “We would be guilty of political malpractice if we closed the door on those from other parties who now seek to join the APC and I sincerely welcome our party’s newest members from Delta and Akwa Ibom States led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Pastor Umo Eno and other members of this National Assembly,” he said.
Defeat awaits Tinubu in 2027 – PDP
Responding, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said Tinubu would be shocked when Nigerians vote him out of power in 2027.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the party is not worried about Tinubu’s comment, adding that the avalanche of challenges bedeviling the country alone would push Nigerians to vote Tinubu out of power in 2027.
Abdullahi said, “After this convention that is coming, the PDP will stabilise. A year before the election, APC will realise what they have done to themselves.”
ADC accuses FG of causing crises in opposition parties
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has blamed Tinubu for the crises in the opposition parties, accusing him of spending huge sums of money to destabilise opposition parties.
The ADC National Chairman, Dr Ralph Okey Nwosu, lamented that it was unfortunate the statement came from President Tinubu.
He said, “It’s most unfortunate that one of the persons who fought the military, so badly and then one of the chieftains of NADECO, happened to be in the driver’s seat today and they are spending state resources to muzzle the opposition and then trying to form a one-party fascism that is even more draconian than the military. It’s unfortunate.
“We are mindful of all their plots and we are navigating it as patriots. 2027 will show them what the opposition are made of and also the will of the Nigerian people.”
Atiku: Tinubu has eroded June 12 gains
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said Tinubu has frittered away the gains of June 12, adding that “those who laid down their lives did not do so for Nigerians to groan under the yoke of authoritarianism and economic suffocation.”
Atiku, in a post on his social media platforms, also said the effort by opposition figures to float a coalition will defend the legacies of the June 12 struggle.
According to the presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in the last election, “what we are witnessing is not governance, it is conquest.”
The opposition leader said, “The gains of June 12 were hard-won. But sadly, the democratic promise that blossomed in 1999 is being steadily dismantled before our very eyes.
“Today, Nigeria teeters on the edge of a dangerous precipice—a creeping one-party dictatorship is replacing the democratic order we bled for.
Tinubu’s comments executive rascality – SDP
In its own reaction, the spokesperson of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Araba Segun Aiyenigba, said the party is not distracted by the president’s comment, describing it as “executive rascality, and ego tripping of the day.”
“We are focused on strengthening and strongly positioning our capacity to meet the quest of Nigerians in becoming the credible alternative and the much-looked up to veritable vehicle for national redemption and to make life more meaningful for Nigerians,”he said.
CUPP accuses Tinubu of threatening democracy
Similarly, the National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Chief Peter Ameh, said President Tinubu’s action is a threat to democracy.
“President Tinubu’s brazen exultation in the crippling crises tearing apart Nigeria’s opposition parties, while feigning opposition to a one-party state is a grotesque display of hypocrisy that savages the very soul of democracy.
“His insidious remarks not only betray his intimate knowledge of these orchestrated turmoils but also expose his administration’s sinister complicity in engineering them.
“No patriot, let alone a democrat, would revel in the ruthless dismantling of political rivals essential to a vibrant democratic system. Tinubu’s venomous double-speak is a calculated assault on Nigeria’s pluralistic ideals, laying bare a despotic ambition that imperils the nation’s future,” Ameh said.
He said the deliberate sabotage of opposition parties, which President Tinubu “shamelessly celebrates, is a heinous act of political warfare.”
Ameh who is former Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said, “By strangling the opposition’s stability, Tinubu is orchestrating a chilling purge of dissent, paving the way for a tyrannical monopoly that suffocates political participation and obliterates accountability.”
