The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State has described members and leaders of the opposition parties as self-appointed messiahs and expired politicians who have nothing valuable to offer Nigerians.
Seye Oladejo, the spokesperson for the Lagos chapter of the APC, while expressing concern over the disarray in the hierarchy of the opposition parties, accused their leaders of failing the country on all counts.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Oladejo also decried the absence of credible opposition in Nigeria, especially with the fast-approaching 2027 general election.
He said, “Rather than serve as credible watchdogs, policy challengers, or intellectual counterweights to the ruling party, the opposition has degenerated into a coalition of desperation, confusion, and hypocrisy – the very bane of Nigeria’s democratic growth.
“The health of any democracy is measured by the quality, depth, and seriousness of its opposition – its ideas, organisation, and consistency,” Oladejo said.
Adding that Nigeria’s opposition lacks the binding political philosophy needed to steer the country in the right direction, the APC leader slammed the politicians, describing them as “individuals who once claimed to stand for ideological purity now leapfrogging from one platform to another in search of personal relevance.”
Continuing, he warned that the opposition leaders are nothing but a crop of opportunists who are only united by their lust for power, as against the immediate needs of the people whom they claim to defend.
According to Oladejo, the present band of opposition leaders stands in sharp contrast to the one Tinubu led before emerging as Nigeria’s president in 2023.
“He (Tinubu) offered Nigerians a credible alternative founded on progressivism, good governance, and national unity. The APC of today is a testament to what visionary and responsible opposition politics can achieve when driven by patriotism rather than personal ambition,” he said.
On the way forward for Nigeria’s political space, Oladejo said the ruling party finds it troubling that none of the opposition platforms has showcased a clear roadmap for the nation’s economy, security, education, or social growth.
He, however, assured that because democracy thrives on choice, whenever a particular side of the political divide fails in its task, the citizenry will naturally disengage from it and strive towards ensuring a stronger nation-building process.
“Let it be known that democracy thrives not just on the conduct of elections but on the quality of engagement between the ruling party and a constructive opposition.
“Unfortunately, what we have today is a fragmented assemblage of self-appointed messiahs and expired politicians who mistake social media noise for national relevance,” he added.