- Say it is anti-democratic, dangerous for 2027 elections
- As Turaki’s factional PDP storm out
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, erstwhile Senate President, Senator David Mark, former Governor of Rivers State, Mr Rotimi Amaechi
and other leaders of opposition parties in the country have rejected the amended electoral act 2026 recently assented to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
They specifically tagged the amended electoral act as offensive and anti-democratic, stressing that it is capable of undermining the electoral transparency and sanctity of the ballot, which are fundamental to free, fair and credible elections and the bedrock of participatory democracy.
The leaders of the opposition parties spoke on Thursday at a press conference tagged, “Urgent Call to Save Nigeria’s Democracy”, addressed at the Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja.
In the text of their press conference read by the National Chairman of the New Nigeria’s Peoples Party, NNPP, Dr Ajuji Ahmed, leaders of the opposition parties frowned at several provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 signed into law “with such contemptuous haste” by President Tinubu.
They described it as a major offensive by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, administration to subvert the will of the people in the 2027 general elections.
A faction of the PDP, led by former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Dr Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, which initially agreed to be part of the press conference, later opted out over disagreement as to which of the party leaders should read the text of the press conference.
Turaki, who was sighted at the venue along with some other members of his faction, findings showed, walked out of the venue when he was told that he could not be allowed to present the text of the press conference considering the fact that his faction is not recognized by the court.
A Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, it will be recalled, had recently barred Turaki and others from parading themselves as members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP.
The same court however accorded recognition to the National Working Caretaker Committee of the party led by former National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyawu and Alhaji Abdulrahmam Mohammed, a faction loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike.
In their address, the leaders of the opposition parties said, “We gather here as leaders of Nigeria’s major opposition political parties with a shared aspiration to save our democracy and indeed our nation from impending failure and collapse.
“We have met and decided to collectively articulate our position against the offensive and anti-democratic Electoral Act, 2026 recently passed by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led National Assembly and hurriedly assented to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as other related matters that equally portends danger to our democracy.
“We all saw as Nigerians across various divides expressed their discontent with the anti-democratic provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026 at the various public hearings and protests at the National Assembly grounds. “But we also saw how the peaceful citizens were met with violent repression and disdain by a government that has effectively become deaf, desperate and dictatorial.
“We consider several provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 signed into law with such contemptuous haste by President Tinubu as a major offensive by the APC administration to subvert the will of the people in the 2027 general elections.
“This joint briefing and other collaborative efforts that would follow are therefore designed by the opposition parties to save our democracy, and more importantly, to save our country from political crisis that may follow if the will of the people are subverted yet again.
“We therefore state unequivocally that the new Electoral Act is anti-democratic, and its implementation will undermine electoral transparency and sanctity of the ballot which are fundamental to free, fair and credible elections and the bedrock of participatory democracy.
“This obnoxious Electoral Act, 2026 is without doubt enacted to undermine democracy in Nigeria and it is part of the on-going design by the Tinubu-led APC to disorganize and weaken opposition, corrupt the electoral system, compromise democratic institutions and foist a totalitarian one-party rule on Nigeria. “
“Therefore, we, as patriotic leaders, standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians, reject the new Electoral Act for the following reasons”, they declared.
Also in attendance at the press conference were; former Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imhoke, former Governor of Osun State and National Secretary of the African Democracy Congress, ADC, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Senator representing the FCT in the National Assembly, Hajia Ireti Kingibe, Senator Dino Melaye, Hon Lynda Ikpeazu, Hon CID Maduabum and Alhaji Buba Galadima.
