The Oodua People’s Frontier (OPF) and the Yoruba Patriots Alliance (YPA) have frowned at the interference of the Bola Tinubu-led government in the election of principal officers of the National Assembly ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration.
The groups stated categorically that such actions are not only undemocratic, but also threaten the very foundations of our democracy.
The groups in a statement issued Monday by the Convener of OPF, Moses Odewale and National President of YPA, Anuoluwabamise Adetutu, that it was disheartening to witness the relentless attempts by the government to utilize security agencies as tools of intimidation, coercing aspiring candidates into submission.
The groups expressed dissatisfaction and concern over the flagrant disregard for democratic principles demonstrated by this administration.
The groups pointed out that it was shameful that the current government, barely at the outset of its tenure, was already exhibiting dictatorial tendencies.
They said: “Nigeria is not an ‘agberocracy’; we are a nation founded on democratic principles, where the separation of powers and the independence of the legislative and judicial arms are paramount.
“We vehemently repudiate any misguided parallel drawn between Nigeria and the confined realm of Lagos State, where agberos and touts reign supreme. We assert that Nigeria, as a whole, transcends the narrow scope of a single state and operates on an entirely different scale of governance.”
They noted that considering the use of court orders to impede eligible candidates from exercising their fundamental rights to contest for principal offices in the Senate was not only an affront to the country’s democracy but also a blatant violation of the principles of justice and fairness.
The groups added: “The Oodua People’s Frontier (OPF) and the Yoruba Patriots Alliance (YPA), stands firmly against any attempt by this administration to undermine our democratic systems.
“We refuse to be silent spectators as our democracy is eroded by the very government entrusted to uphold it. We will resist every encroachment on our democratic institutions with unwavering determination.
The groups added that the people of Nigeria deserve leaders who respect the tenets of democracy and uphold the principles of good governance.
“We demand that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government refrain from further interference in the electoral process and respect the rights of eligible candidates to contest for principal offices in the National Assembly,” they said.