In a fiery address after being unveiled as interim chairman of the opposition Action Democratic Party (ADP), former Senate President David Mark issued a stark warning about Nigeria’s democratic backsliding, declaring the country is on “a creeping descent into total civilian dictatorship” under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seasoned politician and former military governor accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of systematically destabilizing opposition parties to achieve what he called “total state capture” ahead of the 2027 elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark, known for his measured rhetoric during his years as Senate President, delivered an uncharacteristically blunt assessment of the current administration’s governance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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 ordinary Nigerians,” Mark stated to gathered supporters and journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ADP leader painted a grim portrait of a nation in crisis, citing unchecked insecurity that has left citizens vulnerable to daily attacks by bandits and kidnappers. “This ongoing tragedy has not moved the government to any action that would stop these mindless killings and stem the tide of needless bloodshed,” he lamented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark reserved particular criticism for what he described as the emasculation of the National Assembly, accusing lawmakers of abandoning their constitutional oversight role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Never in our history have we witnessed a National Assembly where legislators – the trustees of the very bastion of our democracy – are reduced to cheerleaders and praise singers of the President,” he charged, warning this has enabled unconstitutional policies that deepen poverty and insecurity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Positioning the newly formed ADP coalition as a democratic alternative, Mark directly appealed to Nigeria’s disillusioned youth, terrorized communities, and citizens battered by economic hardship. “For all those for whom renewed hope has turned to renewed hopelessness – this is your coalition,” he declared, framing the 2027 elections as a rescue mission for the nation’s democracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This government gets away with unconstitutional actions because there’s no institutional check. We must stop this dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people,” Mark concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Senate President’s unusually combative tone signals a potential shift in opposition strategy as political forces begin aligning against Tinubu’s anticipated reelection bid. His remarks come amid growing public frustration over economic difficulties and security challenges, though the administration has consistently dismissed such criticism as politically motivated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a fiery address after being unveiled as interim chairman of the opposition Action Democratic Party (ADP), former Senate President David Mark issued a stark warning about Nigeria’s democratic backsliding, declaring the country is on “a creeping descent into total civilian dictatorship” under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The seasoned politician and former military governor accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of systematically destabilizing opposition parties to achieve what he called “total state capture” ahead of the 2027 elections. Mark, known for his measured rhetoric during his years as Senate President, delivered an uncharacteristically blunt assessment of the current administration’s governance. “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 ordinary Nigerians,” Mark stated to gathered supporters and journalists. The ADP leader painted a grim portrait of a nation in crisis, citing unchecked insecurity that has left citizens vulnerable to daily attacks by bandits and kidnappers. “This ongoing tragedy has not moved the government to any action that would stop these mindless killings and stem the tide of needless bloodshed,” he lamented. Mark reserved particular criticism for what he described as the emasculation of the National Assembly, accusing lawmakers of abandoning their constitutional oversight role. “Never in our history have we witnessed a National Assembly where legislators – the trustees of the very bastion of our democracy – are reduced to cheerleaders and praise singers of the President,” he charged, warning this has enabled unconstitutional policies that deepen poverty and insecurity. Positioning the newly formed ADP coalition as a democratic alternative, Mark directly appealed to Nigeria’s disillusioned youth, terrorized communities, and citizens battered by economic hardship. “For all those for whom renewed hope has turned to renewed hopelessness – this is your coalition,” he declared, framing the 2027 elections as a rescue mission for the nation’s democracy. “This government gets away with unconstitutional actions because there’s no institutional check. We must stop this dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people,” Mark concluded. The former Senate President’s unusually combative tone signals a potential shift in opposition strategy as political forces begin aligning against Tinubu’s anticipated reelection bid. His remarks come amid growing public frustration over economic difficulties and security challenges, though the administration has consistently dismissed such criticism as politically motivated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25938,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25936\/revisions\/25938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}