An African Democratic Congress Chieftain, Dr. Ibrahim Mani, has stated that the party is not afraid of the spate of defections into the All Progressives Congress, saying that the size of a party does not decide the will of the people.
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV’s daily politics programme on Tuesday, he said Nigerians know what they want and are not happy about the current economic situation of the country, stressing that the voting population would decide the next government in 2027.
“If you take the defection of a governor as the defection of the entire state into a party, then I’ll agree with you, but you definitely know that that is not the case. The people know what they want, and the people are aware of what is happening. The people know that they have been failed at all levels. So, the defection is neither here nor there.
“It doesn’t really matter per se, and that is why we’re not worried about these defections. We know who will definitely call the shots at the end of the day. It’s not those who defected, but it’s the people of this country, the voting population in this country, the people that are really at the receiving end of things today,” he said.
He, however, stated that the ADC does not support any violent takeover of government, maintaining that as a party, it strongly believes the democratic process in Nigeria is getting mature and strengthened.
“We strongly believe that the only way you can change any government in this country has to be through the ballot papers, it has to be through the ballot box, it has to be through an election process.
“This is why we are making this effort to want to change this government through the democratic processes. So if there is actually a coup, and the government is keeping quiet about it, or details are not coming out about it, and names are being thrown here and there to show that people in the political class are involved, then we have every reason to worry.
“Like I have said, we don’t support a military takeover. We don’t think it is right, and we don’t think that this country should go back to these days of military rule because of the fact that it comes with a lot of setbacks and negative consequences.
“Most Nigerians who are below 35 years will never have heard of any military takeover or coup. But we grew up in a period the coups were rampant in this country. We grew up in a period of military rule, and we knew what that entailed,” he averred.
He said ADC prefers a credible process of change of governments or regimes through the electoral process, through the ballot boxes, through the will and the wishes of the people than through the barrel of the gun.
“This is our position as a party. Some people are scratching their heads, saying that the ADC is acting. No, I’m not defecting, and I don’t think anybody is defecting.
“What we are trying to do is to develop a mass movement in Nigeria. Of course, it will revolve around key individuals. But the most important thing is that the people of this country should be able to take ownership of this.
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“The defections don’t really matter because it doesn’t change the fortune of our citizens. It doesn’t make our lives better. It doesn’t improve our quality of living. It doesn’t change the fact that people are suffering in this country.
“It doesn’t change the fact that insecurity has bedeviled us. It doesn’t change the fact that the level of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria has been the highest ever during this period. It doesn’t change the fact that we present some of the lowest human development indices ever in the history of our country at the present period,” he added.
