While we appreciate the enthusiasm with which Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has delivered his acceptance speech as Interim National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), we must urgently and firmly reject the premise and process behind this appointment — an appointment that lacks due process, transparency, and the broad-based legitimacy expected in a democratic political party”.
“Ironically, the speech talks about internal democracy, ideological discipline, and inclusiveness—yet the very process by which he emerged contradicts every word he spoke. Democracy cannot begin with imposition. The ADC must not become another replica of the broken parties we seek to replace -Dr. Musa Isa Matara IQAM
National Publicity Secretary, ADC (Original).
Here they come again.
A leopard cannot change its skin.
“I promise I will not leave APGA.
Not only that I will not leave, I will die in APGA” — the ever unreliable Peter Obi in 2010.
I now ask: can a group of mostly political Almajiris, described
humorously, as internally displaced persons fighting for relevance by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, come from nowhere, and whimsically grab a fully functioning, INEC – certified political party?
Are there no longer laws in Nigeria, or is it an affirmation of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s allegation concerning their leaders’ belief that “trust in money can buy him his way on any, or all issues”?
Last week on this column I presented, not only what political opposition currently looks like in our country, I equally sketched what a serious and responsible opposition should aspire to be; at least not a demonstration of desperation and lawlessness as we saw displayed in the manner some oligarchs sought to capture ADC.
No, not in a country of laws even if they individually equate to a Central Bank.
Today I venture a little further into what a responsible opposition politician, not the group, should aspire to be – not look like. Whichever of those currently parading as opposition leaders but whose past does not reflect Nigerians’ wishes should simply be given a wide berth.
Mr Peter Obi, who as Presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 election cycle, placed a distant third, in spite of his unrestrained weaponisation of both ethnicity and religion in his campaign, will be our specimen of what an opposition leader, and ipso facto, a probable future Nigerian President, should not be.
In the same manner they believe they had captured ADC – no process, no rules – Peter Obi has declared, apriori, that he will contest the 2027 Presidential election, come rain, come shine.
This is in spite of the loud presence in the same opposition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the sedentary politician, and perennial Presidential candidate, who is dumping PDP for no other reason than that he cannot wangle his way to becoming its candidate again as there aren’t enough Hausa/Fulani contestants in the ADC, this time around, to bulldoze as they did Aminu Tambuwal in the PDP in ’23.
Nor is Obi unaware of the efette presence of Rotimi Amaechi, the ‘Mr am hungry’, and a fellow Southerner who considers himself the President- in- waiting.
That exactly is how self – conceited these opposition politicians are which makes it doubly obvious that a collision of their altars is as sure as day follows the night.
It’s only a question of time.
Festus Keyamo, the Aviation Minister, however, put this in better perspective when he implied that in swearing to contest, Obi was telling Atiku that he understands his( Atiku’s) game plan.
Wrote Keyamo:”This is just Atiku’s faction of PDP in desperate search for the 2027 Presidential ticket – nothing more, nothing less.
The person who the old, cunning guards want to take for a ride in all of this is Peter Obi. They want his votes, but don’t want to give him their Presidential ticket because this is Atiku’s show, simpliciter.
That is why David Mark is the interim Chairman”.
Apparently the crafty old man had this all worked out in his mind when he recently went to Osun state, publicly disdained the state governor, of his then own PDP, but enthusiastically romanced Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who he must have promised the Secretaryship of whichever party they were hopping into, in the belief that with Aregbesola and the wily David Mark holding the two key positions, his Presidential candidacy was as good as made.
In making Obi our sample we are also guided by the following words of his: “My past speaks loudly for me”.
Indeed!
But how will Obi, by bringing his past into the equation, not know that he has technically self disqualified?
Or has he forgotten his promise, among many others, never to leave APGA which he not only subsequently ditched to become a political vagrant, hopping from APGA to PDP, then to Labour and now to God knows what party since ADC stakeholders have promised to fight them to the hilt.
Many statements by Peter Obi have sparked controversy.
He has, in fact, been severally accused of lying, insisting that his claims are, most times, unfounded and lack evidence. He often makes claims that are not supported by facts. He also exaggerates or distorts facts to suit his narrative. He obfuscates, making claims without providing evidence to back them up.
For instance, he is in the habit of claiming that a particular policy or action has had a certain impact without providing data or statistics to support his assertion, even while he loves to dish out fake statistics.
His claim of making Anambra state number one in Education in Nigeria, for instance, has been amply discredited.
As is his wont, Peter Obi is already out whining his Obidients as well as those who will file behind him for ethnic and religious reasons.
He has not only sworn he wouldd contest the 2027 presidential election, he pledged to serve only one term if elected and promised to restore national stability within two years.
Here you see Obi’s crass ambition and selfishness in bold relief – an Igbo Presidential candidate promising to serve for only one term even when his people have, like forever, craves for that number one position in the country.
I expect Igbos to see through this coy man.
And if we may ask, what exactly does he mean by restoring national stability, which he hopes to do in two years?
Pray, where is this miracle worker whose miniscule political party, the Labour party, has been roiling in crises for as long as Nigerians can remember?
In his address to his supporters during a live X Space interaction he also dismissed reports suggesting a joint ticket with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He had to say that because he knows that the former Vice President is already a dead weight and failed politician. But believe Obi on any of these things and you would believe anything.
Recall his campaign promise to remove fuel subsidy on Day One, as President, and how he began to rant, whine and obfuscate after seeing the inescapable challenges consequent on Prident Tinubu’s removal of subsidy. Meanwhile had Tinubu not done so the way he did, these ethnicity – suffused people would have ensured they deployed Ajaero, and his NLC, to make it a mission impossible, not minding the draw back that would have meant for Nigeria.
Before concluding this essay, something tells me I should ask their brand new interim Chairman, Senator David Mark, some things about telephones. Are they still for the poor as he once hollered in his glory days as minister? And since Obi wants to be judged by his past, what of Mark?
How does he see his role in the June 12 saga and the struggle for the survival of democracy in Nigeria?Does he feel now, in retrospect, that his serving as a two- term Senate President in a Democratic Republic of Nigeria was haram?
Although you hardly know where exactly former President Obasanjo stands on issues these days besides his anti- Tinubu rhetoric, he has done Nigerians the favour of sufficiently warning us about the duo of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Nasir El Rufai, two other leading opposition titans.
Above are some of the gerontocrats now feverishly doing their damnedest, to once again take Nigerians back to the slave camp.
But God forbid.
