Former Senate President, David Mark has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of undermining democratic institutions, promoting insecurity, and plunging Nigeria into what he termed ‘creeping dictatorship’.
The former PDP stalwart stated this during his inaugural speech as the Interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, July 2.
Addressing party leaders and members for the first time in his new role, Mark, speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the newly formed National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria, declared the coalition’s mission to rescue Nigeria and save the nation’s hard-won democracy.
“We are gathered here this afternoon in pursuit of our shared mission to rescue our country, and laying out a national vision that brings together opposition political parties, civil society groups, youth organizations, and other patriotic stakeholders.
“This coalition of national political opposition groups goes beyond gaining political power. It is a concerted effort to rebuild the crumbling pillars of Nigeria’s vision,” Mark said.
In a strongly worded criticism of President Tinubu’s leadership, Mark accused the administration of hijacking democratic institutions and steering the country toward a one-party state.
“Within two years of the current administration coming to power, it has hijacked all democratic institutions and sent our country on a creeping descent into total civilian dictatorship,” he declared.
“The blatant destabilisation and infiltration of major opposition political parties is aimed at achieving only one objective, to enhance total state capture and leave Nigerians with no alternative or options in 2027.
“We have never seen a government so much at home with corruption, so consumed with politicking that governance is abandoned, while the majority of our people wallow in hunger and poverty,” Mark stated.
The ADC’s new chairman appealed to a broad coalition of Nigerians from struggling households to what he called disenfranchised youths, urging them to rally behind the coalition as a political and moral counterweight to what he described as “a failing administration”.
“To all those citizens who believe that Nigeria’s democracy is worth fighting for, this coalition is for you. To all youths who face an uncertain future, to those who have lost loved ones to senseless violence, to those who have been promised much and given so little, this is your coalition,” Mark declared.
Challenging the current government’s security record, Mark said: “Bandits and kidnappers kill Nigerians at will and on daily basis. Yet, this ongoing tragedy has not moved the government to any action that would stop these mindless killings.”
Mark also decried the weakened state of the National Assembly, describing it as “a mere appendage of presidential authority.”
“Never in our history have we witnessed a National Assembly where legislators are reduced to cheerleaders and praise singers of the President it is a dangerous conspiracy against the Nigerian people,” he lamented.
Explaining the coalition’s choice of the ADC as its political platform, Mark said, “After extensive deliberations, the coalition has decided to adopt the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the vehicle for this historic journey, not merely as another electoral vehicle but as a fortress and platform of our revived democracy.”
He described the ADC as a “new big tent” that would unite Nigerians across ethnic, religious, gender, and generational lines. “Here, the North shall hold hands with the South, women will be equal partners with men, the farmer and the technocrat shall labour side by side.”
Mark however, outlined the coalition’s core values which include unity, action, transparency, justice, and service, while vowing to “rebuild the guardrails of our democracy” and “hand to our children a nation worthy of their talents and dreams.”
“Let it be known today, across Nigeria and beyond, that the opposition is united. The platform is ADC. The time is now. The mission is clear: Rescue Nigeria. Rebuild Nigeria. Return power to the people.”