Group backs coalition politicians over ‘move to rescue democracy’

The Unifiers Movement (TUM), socio-political group, has backed the Atiku Abubakar’s led opposition coalition seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

The movement noted that the opposition leaders should be commended for putting aside their personal interests, to team up and from a coalition against the incumbent President Tinubu.

This was stated in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday and signed by the group’s convener and national chairman, Dayo Kayode.

The group alleged deliberate move by the current administration in alliance with the judiciary to weaken opposition parties in Nigeria, noting that such trend portend danger for the sustenance of the country’s democracy.

“Equally, the protracted political cancer we are witnessing today within the opposition parties (especially PDP, Labour Party, SDP etc) cannot be best explained without mentioning the involvements of both the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and the judiciary.

“The harassments with government apparatus of opposition members in submitting to decamping to the ruling party APC cannot be overlooked; examples of these abound.

The movement further pointed out that the situation was a pointer to the dangerous erosion of the nation’s democratic values and principles, stressing that the end result could be highly detrimental to the nation fragile democracy.

The movement applauded the transformation and fusion of the coalition into the ADC, while vowing that the movement’s 1. Million members were in support of the coalition.

According to the statement, “We as a movement equally applaud your transmutation of this coalition into African Democratic Congress (ADC) as an all-time adopted political vehicle to driving the coalition’s political ideological agenda.

“On this, be very well assured that, you have the unalloyed support and loyalty of our teeming members located all across the country and in the diaspora.

Read also: ADC accuses Tinubu of orchestrating plot to destabilise opposition coalition

“As we all can still recollect the scripted Rivers State’s political imbroglio where the 27 house of assembly members decamped from their party PDP to APC and as backed up by the ruling party with some other judicial unconstitutional proclamations, these law makers refused to resign their legislative positions, according to our constitutional provisions and democratic international best practices.

“The Unifier Movement is a people powered movement pivoted on the determined and purposeful premise of changing the political narratives of practices, procedures and citizen’s participation and as such, organically mobilizing Nigerian masses to emancipate themselves from the socioeconomic and political quagmires which this wicked, heist, Machiavellian and hedonistic oligarchs have subjected them to.

Last week prominent opposition politicians, launched a coalition against President Tinubu, the group adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the political vehicle to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress at the polls.

A former Senate President, David Mark, was appointed interim national chairman of the ADC, while Rauf Aregbesola, former Osun governor was named interim national secretary.

The leaders have criticised Tinubu’s policies, especially on floating of the naira and removal of fuel subsidy.