“The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.”
—-Mahatma Gandhi(1869–1948).
In a democracy, the opposition is considered an inevitable necessity. The opposition is expected to be an alternate force, a catalyst for fostering constructive accountability on the ruling party – in the prevailing circumstances, the All Progressives Congress(APC).
Currently, the country seems bereft of an opposition with such sterling attributes. They aren’t proffering alternative paths or solutions, but are merely battling with how to wrest power from the incumbent. And sadly so, maybe because there is a role reversal: the driving force of the opposition since the advent of this dispensation in 1999 is now in power, while those who claimed they would rule for 60 years have unexpectedly found themselves playing the role of opposition. In life, no condition is permanent.
This informed why jitters seem to have overwhelmed the opposition consequent upon their summit that held in Ibadan, Oyo state capital last weekend. From all indications, the opposition figures are currently in self-induced electoral dilemma. Like birds of a feather flocking together, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf Aregbesola and David Mark, all known to harbour distressed presidential ambitions and realising the futility of their aspirations have now been compelled to come together by circumstances they never anticipated.
Their mission is to look for a way to accomplish the daunting task of removing a sitting president from power. But upon realising the perilous pathways ahead, they have belatedly realized the need to present a united front against their once-upon-a-time benefactor but now formidable political enemy, President Bola Tinubu, GCFR.
Through the summit’s communiqué read by Taminu Turaki, factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it declared: “We shall resist all machinations by the APC to foist a one-party State on Nigeria and fight for the survival of multi-party democracy in our country…..Despite the onslaughts and manoeuvrings of the ruling party.” Yet, the aforementioned promoters of this opposition summit were not only alive and kicking when PDP turned this republic into a one-man tyrannical political show under the despotic ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo; they were also strong members of the national ruling party at that point in history. Truly, whatever goes round comes around.
That opposition summit of strange bed fellows tied together by their elusive lust for the presidency also agreed to work; “…towards fielding one Presidential Candidate for the 2027 elections, which shall be agreed and supported by all participating opposition parties to ‘rescue’ our nation and her long suffering masses.” However, one noticeable contradiction is that signatories to the communique are all greedy presidential aspirants, bereft of any empirically sound idea on how to truly move the country forward yet with no desire to step down their presidential illusions for anyone. Atiku, Amaechi, Obi and Kwankwaso have all expressed their non-readiness to drop their inordinate presidential ambitions for any other aspirants. Atiku is a renowned veteran presidential candidate under several political parties and renowned for having wasted $16billion on an illusory search for constant electricity provision as vice president of this country. Obi has no clear-cut policy initiative different from the Tinubu-led government being criticised while a frustrated Amaechi has lost total political relevance in his home state of Rivers. Aregbesola has no sterling public service antecedent to justify his desire to aspire to become president or be taken seriously.
Put together: What they should have done in 2023 is now being belatedly planned as we approach 2027 despite the fact that the existing legal regime looks unfavourable to their habitual aspirations. Now, they have the law, not Tinubu to contend with, most especially when dual party registration/membership has been criminalised and defection close to an election now made more cumbersome for aspirants.
No wonder that they tend to be placing their political misfortune on anything in sight including Professor Joash Amupitan whom they demanded must be removed; ostensibly because they perceived the newly-amended Electoral Act 2026 as “detrimental” to the realisation of their routine presidential aspirations. They also dismissed the INEC guidelines “as obstacles, deliberately engineered to impose conditions and deadlines on the opposition parties.” They further demanded that “INEC [should] extend the deadline for primaries till the end of July, 2026.” Again, even if such claims may not be completely false, but these opposition clowns were in the PDP-led government of Obasanjo that appointed Professor Maurice Iwu as INEC chairman when he inflicted the most virulent electoral absurdities/pains ever witnessed in the sixty-six years of existence of this country.
This column is not saying that Tinubu should not be called to question for whatever provable shortcomings of his government. Far from that as saying that could be hypocritical since Tinubu, like every other mortal, is not perfect. Infact, there are noticeable lapses and he should answer queries over them to the satisfaction of a “faithfully sincere opposition” and our country men. This writer is not also saying that Amupitan should not be called to question for any irregularities discovered in the discharge of his duties—-far from that. Amupitan should be called to question for verifiable and not imagined acts of electoral partisanship or dereliction of duty.
Better put: What is of concern to this columnist is that those championing the Ibadan Opposition Summit are not distinguished public servants when the opportunity to govern this country was thrown on their laps. Rather, all of them, including David Mark et’al can be described as the foundational architects and dysfunctional catalysts of the problems bedeviling the country today. Caution: No one is denying the fact that there are so many yet-to-be-detected or detected-but not-allowed-to-flourish Nigerians around who could govern the country better than Tinubu: But the truth that partisan minds may not want to hear is that they are not amongst those currently parading themselves as opposition to Tinubu’s reelection. Again, this is Tinubu’s time which demands that he acquits himself creditably well because history, not tainted opposition, is watching. This is precisely the point that yours sincerely is making with all sincerity of purpose.
•Sanusi, former MD/CEO of Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, is currently managing partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS.(WhatsApp Only-07011117777).
