The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that Nigeria is moving closer to becoming a one-party state.
On the other hand, the Labour Party (LP) believes that the key institutions responsible for establishing democracy in the country have been completely influenced by the executive branch.
The PDP, which was once the ruling party, lost its position in 2015 and is now recognized as the leading opposition party.
The party, however, does not seem to be fulfilling its role as the opposition in the country.
The recent mass dismissal of members from the PDP and LP has made the situation worse, as the remaining lawmakers appear less prepared to be a strong opposition.
Dr. Aliyu Danko, the national publicity secretary of the Labour Party, spoke to DAILY POST about the losses suffered by the PDP in court and the importance of having a strong opposition. He criticized the Appeal Court for making decisions that have harmed Nigeria.
“The Court judgements have not helped Nigeria in any way. In fact, they’ve muddled up some of the judgments in our electoral process,” he said.
“And that is a fact. We’ve seen situations where at a point, we thought that there are individuals being bribed to do things against the state but gradually, the institutions are being bought over completely.
“For example, the Nigeria Police has a big challenge regarding doing the right thing. We are alleging that the Nigeria Police is now under the pulpit of the executive and not in the hands of the Nigerian people, who pay their salaries through taxpayers’ money, anymore.
“Similarly too, the Independent National Electoral Commission, became the conduit pipe through which certain unpopular legislators are elected.
“You now have the judiciary which was supposed to be the hope of the common man, they have faded away completely into the thin air.
“They are no more independent of themselves and can on longer adjudicate on matters clearly but show serious contradictions to the Nigerian people.
“So, all of these have culminated into the decay you are seeing already in the system. This is why even when the President visited the national assembly to present the budget, instead of them scrutinising and criticising the document as presented, they were busy hailing the President on his mandate that they’ve already legalised illegally.
“That is to tell you they are still under the euphoria of the issue of illegality which they want to internalise. That is why you may not see a robust debate, challenge or a clear-cut argument in the National Assembly except for a few from the other political parties…who may be willing to do their democratic duties.
“But for now what we’re seeing is a jamboree of interest trying to legalise illegality. What I’m seeing is an intimidated opposition. Though some of them may be strong. You will see it is an intimidated assembly, not necessarily too weak.”
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, emphasized that the top priority for Nigerians should be to address the issues with the electoral system.
“What I’m concerned about is that democracy is under threat as it is being done particularly with the compromise and the responsibility of INEC.
“As the institution that keeps democracy going, INEC has shown and demonstrated its lack of integrity in the running of elections in this country.
“And when you go to court, INEC is equally complacent in those issues. The bigger question is the threat to democracy.
“What is going on, we’re drifting gradually to totalitarianism and a one-party state, which is not good for democracy. We expect that the court too would do their job… but the major challenge is the institutions that conduct the elections.
“Why was it so easy for an incumbent President to accept defeat? It was because the election was free, fair and credible. We had the electoral body being neutral for what it should be.
“The judiciary must on its own be willing to be a very strong arm of the government and an institution that will help develop the culture of democracy in ensuring that rule of law is preserved.”
