The existence of opposition is indispensable in any democracy as uncensored public criticism and threat of being thrown out of office prevents a political party in power from acting with impunity. It is against this backdrop that the opposition’s main role is to question the government of the day and hold it accountable to the public. Another major role of the opposition is to propose alternatives to what the government is doing, so that the public gets the benefit of political debate between different directions, as opposition is not just about disagreeing with the government. However, there are occasions that the oppositions agree with the government. This tend to be when it is simply in the public’s interest that a problem is fixed as well as when the solution the government is proposing has wide support and is hard to disagree with.

Regrettably, this has not been the case in Nigeria. Instead of holding the government accountable and serving as alternative platforms, most members of the opposition political parties have their eyes on appointments by the ruling party. Much noise would be made by members of the opposition to rubbish and paint the party in power in bad light, but immediately there is an opportunity to join the government, they grab it. While it is a general belief that no government could be long secured without a formidable opposition, some political analysts are however of the view that the opposition parties are equally guilty of the various misdeeds which they accuse the ruling party of.

To these analysts, apart from constant throwing of jibes at the ruling party, the opposition should at all times, bring to the fore, those programmes that government are supposed to embark on, which either by omission or commission, it has left undone. Many would have expected that lawmakers of the opposition extraction in the National Assembly, particularly those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), will take the lead in ensuring that the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is kept on it toes, but it is clear that they have fallen short of this expectation so far. Interestingly, the presidential candidates of both parties, Atiku Abubakar (PDP) and Peter Obi (LP) seem to be the new face of opposition at the moment given their continuous interventions on critical national issues, especially policies and programmes of the APC-led Federal Government.

Atiku fights on despite electoral loss

Many though that the former vice president would quit politics after his bid to upturn President Bola Tinubu’s election was dashed by the Supreme Court but he vowed to fight on for the sake of the country’s democracy, which according to him, is on a life-support.

To this end, he called for a comprehensive constitutional amendment that will prevent any court or tribunal to hide under technicalities or judicial sophistry to undermine the will of the people. Atiku, who addressed a press conference, after the apex court threw out his petition against President Tinubu, said what the country is currently dealing with is bigger than one or two presidential elections and certainly bigger than him as well. His words: “I leave Nigerians and the world to decide what to make of the Supreme Court’s unfortunate decision. But here’s my take. The judgements of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court have very far-reaching grave implications. “It is not about me; it is about our country, Nigeria. It is about the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation and what kind of example we want to set for our children and their children. It is about the reputation of Nigeria and Nigerians. “Someone asked me what I would do if I lost my election petition appeal at the Supreme Court.

In response, I said that as long as Nigeria wins, the struggle would have been worth the while. By that, I meant that the bigger loss would not be mine but Nigeria’s if the Supreme Court legitimizes illegality, including forgery, identity theft, and perjury. “At the current historic moment, the easier option for me would have been to fold up and retreat after the mandate banditry perpetrated by the APC and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “But I went to the Nigerian courts to seek redress. I even went to an American court to help with unravelling what our state institutions charged with such responsibilities were unwilling or unable to do, including unravelling the qualifying academic records of the person sworn in as our President and by implication, hopefully who he really is.

“I offered that evidence procured with the assistance of the American Court to our Supreme Court to help it to do justice in this case. As a stakeholder in the presidential election of February 25, I, along with other well-meaning Nigerians have done my bit in ensuring that our democratic process enjoys the privilege of full disclosure of the character deficiencies of the current political leadership. “I also believe that even if the Supreme Court believes otherwise, the purpose of technology in our electoral system is to enhance transparency and not merely as a viewing centre. We have to move with the world and not be stuck in time.” On his resolve to fight on, he declared: “For as long as I breathe; I will continue to struggle with other Nigerians to deepen our democracy. I will continue to work for the return of political and economic restructuring that the country needs.” The former vice president has even gone ahead to call for opposition political parties to come together and create a more formidable front that will salvage Nigeria’s democracy from sliding into a one-party state. According to him, a formidable coalition is necessary to address the perceived decline in democratic values and to prevent Nigeria from becoming a de facto one-party system. He also noted that the project of protecting democracy in the country is not about just one man.

His words: “The project of protecting democracy in our country is not about just one man. But the truth of the matter is that our democracy is fast becoming a one-party system; and, of course, you know that when we have a one-party system, we should just forget about democracy. “We have all seen how the APC is increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party. If we don’t come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer for it, and the consequences of it will affect the generations yet unborn.”

Obi declares LP, Obidient Movement effective opposition

Perhaps, the need for a virile opposition to the ruling APC, informed the recent declaration by Obi that LP and the Obidient Movement is now an effective opposition to the President Tinubu-led administration.

The LP presidential candidate, who was also reacting to the judgement of the Supreme Court, which affirmed Tinubu’s election, said at a press conference that LP has moved into effective opposition due to its policies and the governance modalities the party campaigned for prior to the 2023 presidential election. His words: “Going forward, we in the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement are now effectively in opposition. We are glad that the nation has heard us loud and clear. We shall now expand the confines of our message of hope to the rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel pain and answer their needs for hope. At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls, board rooms, and university and college campuses, we will all carry and deliver the message of a new Nigeria.

“As stakeholders and elected Labour Party officials, we shall remain loyal to our manifesto. We will continue to canvas for good governance and focus on issues that promote national interest, unity, and cohesion. We will continue to give primacy to our constitution, the rule of law, and the protection of ordered liberties. We will offer the checks and balances required in a functional democracy and vie robustly in forthcoming elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria. “Given our present national circumstances, there is a compelling need for a strong political opposition. We shall, therefore, remain in opposition, especially because of the policies and the governance modalities that we in the Labour Party campaigned for, especially reducing the cost of governance, moving the nation from consumption to production, reducing inflation, ending insecurity, promoting the rule of law, guaranteeing the responsibility to protect, and stabilizing the Nigerian currency; are clearly not the priorities of the present administration nor is it interested in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The LP presidential candidate, who garnered 6.1 million votes to place third in the February 25 presidential election that was won by Tinubu with 8.7 million votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6.9 million votes, expressed optimism of what he described as a “New Nigeria,” which LP and the Obidient Movement fought for in the last elections.

No doubt, Obi has been walking his talk of keeping the ruling party on its toes but the question against this drop is: Does Obi, LP and the Obidient Movement have what it takes to provide a credible opposition as well as to sustain the steam. While answers to the question lie in the belly of time, Obi seems to have taken the lead given his stand on some recent developments in the polity. The LP presidential candidate, who commented on the recent signing into law of the N2.17 trillion supplementary budget by Tinubu, said the President failed to consider certain emergencies and pressing needs of the country before his action. He added that going by the manner the budgetary allocations were done, it was obvious the President was unaware of the dire crisis in the country. Obi, who also faulted the recent expenditure of N60 billion for the purchase of Sport Utility Vehicles for members of the National Assembly, described such move as a continuation of the troubling trend in the nation.

He said the government had continued to abandon the critical areas of development measurement while expending scarce resources on needless luxury and creating comforts for those elected to serve the people. His words: “Our primary healthcare, which is the foundation of health, a critical development index measure, has collapsed, leading to our surpassing India, a country seven times our population, in infant mortality, a very saddening situation. “To allocate such a huge amount, which is more than what we allocated to our primary health care, is nothing but troubling. One third of that amount, with proper negotiation, would have given them locally manufactured SUV vehicles from Innoson Motors, PAN or any local auto assembly plant, to help boost our economy and create and retain jobs,” Obi said. Similarly, Obi faulted the sum of N1.5 billion earmarked for vehicles for the Office of the First Lady, saying the duty of the President’s wife is to take care of her husband because the Office of the First Lady is unconstitutional.

“The First Lady’s office is not in our constitution; all the monies allocated to the unconstitutional Office of the First Lady should have been transferred to educating and caring for the girl-child. The First Lady’s job is to look after the husband and work with him to ensure everything works well.” He has also picked holes on some budgetary proposals in the 2024 Appropriation Bill recently presented to the National Assembly for approval by President Tinubu. They include allocations for a new residence for the vice president and trips by the president, vice president and their aides. His words: “The sum of N15.961 billion has been budgeted for trips for the aides of the president and the vice president. If the aides are spending this much, one can extrapolate that their principals, the President, and the Vice President, will spend twice as much, which will be about N30 billion.

“This means that in 2024 the office of the President and Vice President, and their aides will be gulping over N45b for trips alone. Furthermore, the office of the Chief Of Staff budgeted N20 billion for the renovation of the President and the Vice President’s offices in Lagos and Abuja and their full ‘digitization.’ “If you add N45 billion, being the least that will be spent on transportation, and N20 billion earmarked for renovations, it comes to about N65 billion, which is more than N57 billion, being the amount passed by the Senate last week for the Police Trust Fund, to secure over 200m people. Join me in figuring out the alternatives of what this amount can do in real productive terms for our dear country, especially in a critical area like internal security. “We have over 5000 Police stations and operations, across the country.

Half of these police stations have no functional vehicles. Even those that have are given less than N5,000 for fuel in a day, which is why if you are lucky, for prominent people like me, to call the police for any intervention in an emergency, the first thing they tell you is ‘we have no fuel.’ “Assuming we decide to prioritize our lists and use these resources as most of the trips and the renovations are of no value to our growth and productivity, we can approach local manufacturers like Innoson and others and order 2,500 4×4 trucks which as of today cost about N30 million. “We will be able to get a 20 per cent discount because we are buying in large quantities and paying them upfront. It will amount to N25 million each, which will be N62.5 billion for half of the police stations that do not have operational vehicles today, and which will be taken care of by the money we save from the budgeted travel and renovations. “The N15 billion budgeted for the new residence of the Vice President can be used for fuelling police operational cars by tripling their fuel allowances from about N5000 presently to N15,000 per day, which will come to N13.687 billion.”

Okorie speaks on task before opposition

Whereas the ruling party through its spokesperson, Felix Morka, said it welcomes Atiku’s charge to opposition political parties to rally together to engage in opposition politics, it added that President Tinubu will continue undisturbed, to justify his electoral promises in the Renewed Hope Agenda as he builds a safer, stronger and economically vibrant country for the benefit of all. But he founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, who spoke on the goals the opposition, particularly the Obi-led LP and Obidient Movement has set for itself, described opposition politics as a serious business, which involves a lot of research work, constructive criticisms and proffering of alternatives for it to gain traction.

His words: “Quite frankly, Obi and his supporters are already in opposition just like the PDP and any other party that is not the ruling APC. But making a public stand that they are effectively in opposition goes beyond mere declaration. Effective opposition is not a child’s play and I say this out of experience because I can say without being contradicted that I am the longest-standing opposition leader from the South-East. “Opposition is a lonely road. It is a lonely road because most Nigerians behave like what the Igbo people say in their proverb that ‘the goat follows someone who is carrying the fodder.’ Again, there is another proverb in Igbo land and which is more common in Anambra State, where Obi comes from that ‘no one sees where people are celebrating and leaves them to join those who are mourning.’ “This means that opposition is a serious business and for the opposition to gain traction and be credible, it has to do a lot of research. If the party in power is making wrong policies; what alternatives will the opposition proffer? Any opposition that does not proffer alternative options is not constructive. This means that you should not only criticize what is being done but proffer alternatives. What would you have done if you were there? “So, a credible opposition can change opinion, hold the party in power accountable and as well discredit it but if you are discrediting a ruling party without proffering alternatives, it makes your being in opposition meaningless.”

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