Former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has warned against coercive and arm-twisting defection by politicians, particularly elected public office holders with the mandate of the people and other political parties.
He specifically said that the destruction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), could spell doom for the nation’s democracy.
This was as Lamido pointedly accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of misusing state institutions, particularly INEC, the police, and the EFCC, to crush dissent, warning that such a tactic would ultimately backfire in no time.
He also said that there is no covenant between Tinubu and God guaranteeing him 2027, adding that power is not inherited, but earned through the people.
Lamido, who stated these shortly after his emergence as a national delegate at the PDP’s Local Government Congress in Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State, stressed that the increasing collapse of opposition structures signals a dangerous future for democracy in the country.
He said that any democracy without a strong opposition is simply a dictatorship in disguise, stating that if other leaders before now, had killed opposition in the country, there wouldn’t have been the present democracy in place.
In the wortds of Lamido; “When government machinery is weaponized against rivals, it is no longer politics, it is self-sabotage. Let it be known that no political power is eternal.
While rejecting calls for a new opposition coalition, Lamido said that only the PDP has the experience, structure, and legitimacy needed to lead Nigeria forward.
According to him; “Coalitions built on anger and bitterness will collapse. True political strength is organic and PDP remains Nigeria’s most grounded party:,
Lamido warned defectors that aligning with the APC out of fear would end in regret, stressing that history would not be kind to those who abandoned democracy for survival.
He further said; “The fear of EFCC is temporary. The judgment of history is forever. Let the people matter”.
