The opposition in Nigeria has developed a bad habit: every time it stumbles over its own feet, it looks for President Bola Tinubu to blame. The latest drama over the African Democratic Congress is a perfect example.
INEC’s decision to freeze recognition of the party’s warring leadership factions has triggered the familiar outrage, complete with warnings about dictatorship, a one-party state and a grand plot from the Presidency. But before Nigerians swallow that script whole, they should ask a simpler question: who created the mess inside the ADC in the first place? The answer is not Tinubu. It is the opposition politicians who rushed into the party without first putting the house in order.
The facts are stubborn. There is a real leadership dispute in the ADC. After the resignation of Ralph Nwosu and the emergence of a new National Working Committee led by David Mark, Nafiu Bala, a deputy national chairman, challenged the arrangement in court, insisting that by the party’s constitution he should assume leadership. Both camps wrote INEC with conflicting demands. The Court of Appeal then ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending determination of the substantive suit, and INEC responded by refusing to engage either faction until the court settles the matter. One may quarrel with INEC’s interpretation, but no honest observer can deny that the commission was reacting to an internal crisis manufactured by the ADC itself.
That is why the opposition’s outrage rings hollow. David Mark and his allies want Nigerians to believe that the central issue is Tinubu’s fear of competition. It is not. The central issue is that yet another Nigerian opposition platform has been assembled in haste, inflated by elite ambition and undermined by poor organisation.
A serious opposition does not wait until it is trying to become a national coalition before discovering that its internal succession, constitution, notifications and authority structures are built on false foundations. A serious opposition does due diligence before declaring itself the rescue vehicle of a nation. The ADC leadership itself said it had carried out thorough checks before adopting the party. If that is true, then this crisis is not only embarrassing; it is damning.
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This is the wider tragedy of opposition politics in Nigeria. The PDP is fractured. The Labour Party is trapped in endless leadership disputes. The NNPP has its own factional troubles. Now the ADC, marketed as the fresh coalition platform, is also in court over who controls it. These are not signs of democratic persecution; they are signs of chronic organisational incompetence. Parties that cannot manage their own constitutions, transitions and internal discipline have no moral right to present themselves as custodians of national order. If they cannot run a party secretariat, why should Nigerians trust them with Aso Rock?
None of this means INEC is above criticism. In fact, there is credible argument that the commission may have interpreted the court order too broadly. Former INEC director Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi said the court did not expressly direct INEC to withdraw recognition from either faction or that the party could proceed with its activities so long as it did not undermine the judicial process. But even if INEC overreached, it still does not erase the foundational truth: there would have been no opportunity for overreach if the opposition had not served up another needless internal crisis on a platter.
Opposition parties also do themselves no favour by crying “one-party state” every time they encounter consequences arising from disorder in their ranks. Such language may energise supporters, but it cannot substitute for structure, discipline and legality. Nigerians are not blind. They can see the difference between genuine democratic concern and political excuse-making. When rival camps are writing contradictory letters to INEC, fighting in court and disputing who is entitled to lead, it becomes unserious to pretend that all setbacks must have been scripted by the Presidency. Going to court means disputants have submitted to arbitration!
The real burden on the opposition in a democracy is not merely to oppose. It is to demonstrate competence. It must show Nigerians that it can aggregate interests, resolve disputes, obey its own rules and present a coherent alternative. On that test, much of the present opposition class is failing badly. Their politics is too often reactive, personality-driven and careless. They are long on accusation and short on organisation. They are quick to denounce the ruling party, but slow to admit that many of their wounds are self-inflicted. It is shameful that some so-called analysts, prodded by emotional journalists, are marketing ‘one-party state’ accusation.
INEC should clarify its legal basis and act with scrupulous neutrality. But the harsher truth belongs to the opposition: stop outsourcing responsibility for your confusion. Stop blaming Tinubu for every collapse caused by indiscipline, ego and procedural laziness. If opposition parties want to be taken seriously in 2027, they must first learn the most basic lesson of democratic politics — organise properly or perish noisily.
Crediblenewsng.com
