The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Saturday described the opposition coalition as a healthy development for Nigeria’s democracy, but expressed doubt in its future and effectiveness.
This is just as the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the adopted political party of the opposition coalition, has explained why the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi; and other prominent members of the coalition have yet to resign from their political parties.
Speaking to journalists after casting his ballot in the Lagos State local government elections in Surulere, Gbajabiamila, who said the coalition would prevent Nigeria from becoming a one-party state, doubted if it would go far.
He, however, added that the move could promote broader political engagement across Nigeria’s multi-party system.
“It’s a welcome development with the coalition. It’s not the first time we’re seeing this. It’s a welcome development. In every democracy, we must have some level of opposition; otherwise, we’ll run into a one-party state. But I’m not sure where it would go,” he said.
He emphasised that the strength of any democracy lies in a vibrant and credible opposition that can hold the ruling party accountable.
Gbajabiamila said, “There has to be some level of opposition in a democracy. However, for whatever the coalition is worth, I am not sure where it will go — that is, if it will go anywhere.”
He reiterated that the presence of alternative voices in the political space was important for national progress and political maturity.
Earlier this month, leaders of the coalition convened at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, where they formally adopted the ADC as their platform to challenge the APC in 2027.
Meanwhile, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives cast his vote at Lagos PU 014 on Elizabeth Fowler Memorial High School in the Adeniran Ogunsanya area of Surulere.
He arrived at the polling unit, which has a total of 669 registered voters, at exactly 12:28 pm with a retinue of supporters and some government officials, eventually casting his vote at exactly 12:31 pm.
Gbajabiamila described the election as free and fair but lamented the generally low voter turnout.
He said: “So far, I’ve seen peace; I’ve seen quiet; I’ve seen free and fair elections. A little bit disappointed about the turnout, which is where we need to work on. There is generally a low turnout, from what I’ve seen.
“Perhaps because people don’t fully understand the importance of local government elections, which are even more important than any other election. We need to sensitise our people. We need to educate them about the importance of grassroots government.
“But so far, it’s peaceful and quiet. It’s free and fair. There are no skirmishes anywhere, and that’s what we all want for any election.”
ADC Explains Atiku, Obi, Others’ Non-resignation from PDP, LP
In a related development, ADC has explained why Atiku, Obi, and other prominent members of the opposition coalition have yet to resign from their political parties.
In an interview with THISDAY, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the officials of the parties obtained permission to enable the off-season elections already announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be completed before formally disengaging from their previous political parties.
Abdullahi said that the affected officials of ADC have supporters who are participating in the PDP, LP, and other political parties before the coalition party was formed.
He said: ”For Atiku and Peter Obi, they have supporters who have obtained nomination forms to contest various off-season elections.
”We are aware that they are yet to resign from their former political parties. They would be instrumental to their supporters’ successes.
”Their supporters need them for their electoral victories, so the leadership. We are aware that they have yet to resign,” he said.
Ex-PDP Legal Adviser Slams Coalition, Says Members Can’t Belong to Two Parties
Meanwhile, a former legal adviser of the PDP, Jacob Mark, has issued a scathing assessment of the current coalition involving some PDP members, dismissing it as “political window shopping” rather than a serious alliance.
Speaking during an interview on the ARISE NEWS Channel, Mark was emphatic in his rejection of what he described as a misguided and illegitimate political trend among some party figures.
“You cannot belong to two political parties. You must belong to one,” he said.
“So, when people say they are doing a coalition, they are in PDP, and then they are in ADC, I don’t take them seriously,” he said.
Mark criticised individuals who have not officially resigned from the PDP but are already engaging in coalition politics.
He emphasised that a proper coalition must be an agreement between parties, not individuals freelancing across the political spectrum.
“A coalition that will work is a coalition that will be a working arrangement between political parties, not individuals, particularly those who are here in Abuja,” he said.
When asked whether prominent figures like David Mark and Atiku fall under the label of political “window shoppers,” Mark said: “This is what I expect every other person serious about coalition to do. So, he’s out of the window shopping.”
But he made it clear that others, including former Vice President Atiku, belong to two parties.
“Certainly, until he (Atiku) resigns, until he resigns from the PDP, I will not take him seriously. You cannot be shopping for a presidential ticket in ADC and shopping for a presidential ticket in PDP at the same time. That is not allowed by law.”
Mark also offered a blunt diagnosis of the PDP’s internal decline, blaming successive party leaders for eroding its disciplinary structures.
“People who took over from us degraded the party, degraded its disciplinary, working machinery, and made the party a laughingstock,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of defection and lack of consequences for anti-party behaviour, Mark was unsparing, “People walk in and out, come back, every time you go where you want, come back and take a slot in the PDP again… Now, in our time, you dare not try that. We will expel you.”
Chuks Okocha
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