AfriPulse
Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu , has described the country’s opposition political parties as an utter disgrace.
Naija News reports that Odinkalu, during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday, cited the public holiday declared by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister Nyesom Wike , on the eve of the election at the nation’s capital, arguing that opposition parties missed an opportunity to mobilise supporters in response.
According to him, a decisive opposition would have organised a rally the following day to challenge the move and energise its base, but instead, the opposition leaders remained inactive.
Odinkalu argued that the current political climate reflects a lack of seriousness on the part of opposition parties, expected to provide checks on the ruling government.
He said, “I think the opposition forces, you know, the ADC, whoever else; I don’t even know which PDP there is now, if there is any, because Nyesom Wike is APC faction of PDP, it seems to me.
“But the so-called opposition forces, in my view, are an utter disgrace. And I say that with no apologies to anybody.
“Now take an example: Nyesom Wike wakes up on Thursday night after people have started retiring to declare a public holiday. If I were a member of a political party, and I were a leader of a political party, I would call a rally on Friday. That was a fantastic opportunity for opposition leadership to prove itself.
“If you had political troops on the ground, call a rally on that Friday to dare him and use that to mobilise. What did they do? They were indoors, sleeping.
“It’s difficult to speak to the ineptitude of political opposition in Nigeria. They are not serious. And I think anybody who looks at the system has got to say that, at the moment, there is absolutely no opposition.
“What I do not understand, however, in the face of that, is why the ruling party still feels the need to manufacture the kinds of things it does, from violence to rewriting results to putting one where it should not be, turning hundreds into thousands. I do not understand why they feel the need to do that, because there is actually no opposition group.”
Source: Naijanews.com | Read the Full Story…
