Be careful not to jeopardize democracy – Ameh cautions APC

By Jude Opara

As members of the opposition political parties continue to contend with the gale of crises and judicial pronouncements deregistering some parties, the acting National Chairman of the Conference of United Political Parties (CUPP), Chief Peter Ameh has advised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration to refrain from actions that could derail the nation’s democratic journey.

Ameh who spoke in an exclusive chat with Peoples Daily was reacting to the ruling of a Federal High Court in Kogi which last Friday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

“Perception at times is stronger than reality. The government should be careful not to jeopardize our democracy. Nigerians are not seeing them in a good light because of the increasing hardship facing them daily.

“They must give the opposition a breathing space to operate. The manner they are pushing, if care is not taken could result in such a situation that derail this hard fought so democracy. Look at almost all the parties have one problem or the other, this has never happened in the history of this country. The only party that is at peace is the APC”.

The former National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) said the position of the court was questionable because of the fact that a non-existent political party, the Peace Movement Party (PMP) filed an action challenging the December 2025 ruling that gave birth to the NDC.

He wondered why the court would grant the prayers of the litigants on a case that was decided about six months ago, whereas the maximum window of 90 days for an appeal has long expired.

“This is a deliberate attack to stop the opposition political leaders from being on the ballot and we can’t continue with this level of political banditry. It’s an assault on our democracy.

“The Court should look at the merit of the case and save our democracy. If people are not allowed to freely choose their leaders through the ballot, they may resort to a forceful change, which is not what we want”.

The chieftain of the NDC pointedly accused the APC and the federal government of manipulating the process, all in an alleged bid to stifle the opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“They are looking for a golden crown for Tinubu in 2027, and not an election. They are afraid because even their victory of 2023 was questionable and they also know that they have not done well as a government”.

Ameh equally rubbished the claim that because the APC has about 31 state governors and several members of both the National and State Assemblies, the party stands the best chance of winning the 2027 elections.

“I want to tell you that the APC is jittery, if not let them conduct a free and credible elections. Despite having all the governors, they are still not sure because they know that the people are not with them. Secondly, they know that the old politics of manipulation is gone, the governors and senators only have one vote each.

“Let me give you an example with what happened in Delta state in the 2023 election. The state then was controlled by the PDP, they had senators and other lawmakers as well as the PDP presidential vice candidate, but Obi and the Labour Party without a lawmaker or governor defeated them in the state. That is why they don’t want him to be on the ballot on 2027 because only them know the true result of that election”, he added.