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Samuel Ogidan
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has blamed the leadership crisis in the opposition political parties on the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and elements in the Judiciary.
In his acceptance speech shortly after he was declared the winner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary, Atiku said that ADC is a coalition built through hard work and guided by determination to rescue the country’s democracy.
Expressing his profound appreciation for the privilege bestowed on him to lead the party into the next elections as its Presidential Candidate, Atiku said that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti-democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress.
He said: “We demonstrated that while democracy is being strangled and squashed by the ruling party and its oppressive and anti-democratic government, democracy is alive and well in the African Democratic Congress. In our party, members are allowed to express their views, to have ambitions and to contest for elective positions in a free, fair and transparent process.
“Our great party is a coalition built through hard work, immense sacrifices and compromises, guided by our determination to rescue our country’s democracy which is facing its greatest threat since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
“As I speak, virtually all opposition political parties in the country have leadership crisis engineered by the APC government, the INEC and elements in the judiciary. And opposition figures continue to be harassed and intimidated, including those languishing in detention, such as Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who distinguished himself as a public servant, including as a Minister and two-term Governor of Kaduna State.
“He has been in detention for three months despite court orders granting him bail. He has been denied the right to celebrate two important religious holidays with his family in addition to being denied the opportunity to be by his mother’s side as she took her last breath. All because he is a leading opposition figure! This kind of cruelty must stop.
“The government continues to harass, intimidate and coerce opposition politicians to join the APC using the security agencies as well as the agencies which were set up by a previous government to fight corruption. Under this government, once a person joins the APC, the harassment ceases and the charges against them magically disappear. This abuse of power must stop.
“Great care was taken to ensure that due diligence was done in the process of forming this coalition. Yet the government and the INEC continue to undermine it, even trying to deregister it. Let me warn that any further attempt to interfere in the affairs of the party by the Presidency, INEC and judiciary will be fiercely resisted. Enough is enough.”
He, however, congratulated his fellow contestants for the ticket to represent ADC in the elections scheduled for early next year, adding, “I must state at this juncture that this is not the time to celebrate. No one was defeated because we are one party and we all need to recognise the fierce urgency of the moment. Therefore, we have to unite, as we pledged before this process, to work to pull our country and our people out of the destructive grip of a corrupt, incompetent and polarising APC government.”
He, however, listed areas where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC government failed to include; security, education, economy and healthcare.
The National Chairman of ADC, Sen. David Mark said that the occasion is to prove a point to Nigeria and to Nigerians, adding, “It is about proving that democracy can still work. Proving that political competition does not have to become political warfare. That a party can organize itself around principles instead of personalities. And that in a season of deep national anxiety, a bright future is still possible.”
