NDC deregistration: Jega advises Tinubu to act like Obasanjo

Frontline political analyst, Mahmud Jega, has advised President Bola Tinubu to openly condemn the attitude of some judges towards opposition political parties and against Nigeria’s democracy.

He warned that if opposition parties are prevented from participating in the 2027 general elections, Nigerian democracy is in danger.

“The growing perception that there is a concerted effort to weaken opposition parties before next year’s election is becoming undeniable,” he said. “If this is allowed to happen, it could be the beginning of the end of democracy in Nigeria.

He said It was important for the President as the head of the country’s most powerful institution, the Presidency, to dissociate himself from it and discourage anything that undermines democracy.

Speaking on Arise Television, Jega said, “After what happened in PDP, politically it [judgement against NDC] is very significant, because unfortunately it adds to the widespread and growing perception that there is a concerted effort orchestrated by somebody to stop all the opposition parties from contesting next year’s election.

“After what happened in PDP, after what is happening in ADC now, it has come to NDC, not to talk about Labour Party, NNPP, SDPC and a small party like PRP. Once it produced a presidential candidate, some people went to court and the whole matter.

“So there is a perception that there is a concerted effort to stop all the opposition parties from contesting the election next year. Now, actually that will be like the end of democracy in Nigeria if we don’t have an opposition party.

“I don’t know who is behind this, but it is very important for the presidency, because it is the most powerful institution in the country, to distance itself and discourage what is happening.

In 2001, when PDP was in power and the opposition ANPP then was coming here to hold a convention in Abuja, and the convention was on Saturday, and already thousands of people were here, they had been campaigning everywhere for party offices, and then on Friday afternoon, a judge of the Abuja High Court, issued an order stopping the convention, and they all had to scatter.

“After a few days, President Obasanjo had his monthly media chat and he was asked about that and he said ‘it is wicked, it is wicked’, he said it thrice, that was very important.

“It was a message, very important. And because of that, maybe the National Judicial Council took steps, and the judge was actually either retired or sacked. It’s very important that the presidency do something similar right now.”