Two Civil Society Organisations in Abuja on Thursday said Wednesday’s Supreme Court judgment on People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leadership tussle was resurrection of viable opposition in the country.
The CSOs – Partners for Electoral Reform (PEF) and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) – made the observation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Chairman of PEF, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, said that the opposition, which the court’s verdict would engender in the polity, was a welcomed development for sustainable democracy.
Nwagwu said that the opposition in the country had been in comatose and had created laxity in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We hope that the Supreme Court judgment will bring life into the opposition politics because APC has been having a field day without a strong opposition from any party.
“This made CSOs to become the opposition; we are not supposed to have an adversarial relationship with the government; we are supposed to support the government where we have to.
“So, the court’s judgment is a welcome development, not just for the people of Nigeria but even for APC itself.
“They know that now that there is an opposition, they will have to touch a few things that Nigerians have been complaining about.’’
According to Nwagwu, the economy is not working for the Nigerian people and the wellbeing of most Nigerians is troubled.
He said that the Supreme Court had helped Nigerians to remove the obstacle of lack of positive criticism of the present administration; the nation was hoping to truly have an opposition party.
On his part, Executive Director of PLAC, Mr Clement Nwankwo, said it was useful that the court had settled the controversy within one of the major political parties in Nigeria.
Nwankwo said that there was need for a strong opposition in Nigeria because the basis of democracy was to have a government in power but also a strong opposition to keep in check.
“We hope that the PDP will get back to its role of providing a strong opposition in the interest of our democracy.
“So whichever way the judgment has gone, I think what is really helpful at this time is that the Supreme Court has rested the issue.’’
He said that the expectation of Nigerians was that the PDP and the APC would perform their roles as political parties and respond to the needs of citizens.
Nwankwo said that this had become necessary to truly provide a vibrant and useful democracy for the country. (NAN)
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