Coalition To Save Nigeria From One Party State –  David Mark – Protem Chairman

By Ayodele Oni

“To all suffering Nigerians who are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet; for whom the next meal is not guaranteed, this coalition is for you.”

Protem National Chairman of African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Senator David Mark, has told Nigerians that the essence of the coalition is to stop President Bola Tinubu from turning the country into one party state.

Mark, retired Army Brigadier-General, and a former Senate President, who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, while addressing members, also lamented the present state of the National Assembly, which has been turned to an appendage of the President.

According to him, “it is on record that within two years of the current administration coming to power, it has hijacked all democratic institutions, and sent our country on a creeping descent into total civilian dictatorship.

“The blatant destabilisation and infiltration of all major opposition political parties is aimed at achieving only one objective, to enhance total state capture and leave Nigerians with no alternative or options in 2027. This coalition is to prevent our country’s descent into a one-party state.

“We have never seen a government so much at home with corruption, a government that disdains accountability in all ramifications.

“A government more concerned with the next election rather than the survival of the ordinary Nigerians. A government so totally consumed with politicking that governance is abandoned, while the majority of our people wallow in hunger and poverty.

“Equally disturbing, is the total emasculation of the legislative institution. Never in our history, have we witnessed a National Assembly where legislators, the trustees of the very bastion of our democracy, saddled with the sacred duty to protect Nigerians from misuse of executive power, are reduced to cheerleaders and praise singers of the President, head of the executive arm.

“Nigeria’s National Assembly has been turned to a mere appendage of presidential authority which is a dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

‘Without doubt, the transformation of Nigeria’s National Assembly to a mere appendage of presidential authority is a dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

“It is the reason why the government is able to get away with various whimsical, unconstitutional policies and actions or inactions that have reduced more Nigerians to abject poverty and widened the boundaries of insecurity and fear.

“It is imperative to state that our democracy has a history, which is the reason why we all affirm that the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain. Today, the labour of our heroes is under vicious attack and our Republic faces a mortal danger.

“This coalition is therefore for all Nigerians who share in our belief that all of us, the young and the old, man and woman, rich and poor, living with disabilities or not, town dwellers or villagers, we all have the patriotic duty to save our country.

“Accordingly, to all suffering Nigerians who are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet; for whom the next meal is not guaranteed, this coalition is for you.”

On the current state of affairs, Mark stated that “We have never seen this level of insecurity across the length and breadth of our nation. Bandits and kidnappers kill Nigerians at will and on daily basis.

“Yet, this ongoing tragedy has not moved the government to any action that would stop these mindless killings and stem the tide of needless bloodshed. Indeed, the Nigerian people deserve a government that protects them and make them feel safe in their own homes.”

On decision to adopt ADC as a platform, he explained that “After extensive deliberations, and discussions, which spanned several months with deserving platforms, the coalition has decided to adopt the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the vehicle for this historic journey.

“Having adopted the ADC, we commit ourselves to building and transforming it into a strong political party, not merely as another electoral vehicle, but as a fortress and platform of our revived democracy.

“It will be the harbinger of democracy where members of the party will reign supreme. A party that obeys its rules and constitution in the best democratic traditions. A party of equal stakeholders, equal joiners and equal owners.

“It is the great house into which all patriots are invited. A party that recognises the experience of the old and the energy of the youths. To all Nigerians, we say here is the new big tent into which all patriots are invited.

“Here, the North shall hold hands with South, the youth shall find equal footing with the elder, women will be equal partners with men, the farmer and the technocrat shall labour side by side, not for the triumph of one party over another, but for the triumph of Nigeria herself.”