As Nigeria celebrates its 64th Independence Day anniversary, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the political elite to unite and safeguard the country’s democracy from the “precipice of authoritarianism.”
 
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also cautioned those whose preoccupation was to circumvent the principles and practice of popular democracy, that undermining democratic institutions could no longer be tolerated.
 
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on its part, charged Nigerians to use the 64th Independence anniversary to reawaken the spirit of nationalism in defence of democracy and national sovereignty against the “emerging totalitarianism being foisted on our nation by the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
 
Atiku, in a statement yesterday, hinted that the political impasse in the country had become corrosive; as “opposition parties languish in weakness, while the ruling party appears to manipulate internal processes to render them ineffectual.”
 
Lamenting that the country is almost becoming a one-party dictatorship, the PDP presidential candidate in 2023 called on politicians and statesmen of integrity to “rise and reclaim our democracy from the encroaching shadows of oppression.”
 
The opposition leader said, “While democracy has anchored our institutions in the principles of the rule of law, we have yet to achieve satisfactory progress in fostering political inclusivity and ensuring elections that are genuinely free and fair.
  
“Our founding fathers united under a common cause, championing our Independence through peaceful, political activism. What we celebrate today is the fruit of their collective endeavours and those of subsequent generations.”
 
He regretted that the present landscape reflected a troubling decline in electoral credibility, increasingly subject to the caprices of the ruling class.
 
Atiku also appealed to political leaders across party lines to forge a formidable coalition, one that would provide Nigerians with a credible opposition capable of steering the nation towards a promising future.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a message tagged ‘The Beginning of a New Era’, said the consequences of the elite’s acts of commission or omission brought the nation this far, urging them to turn a new leaf. 
 
According to him, it should be apparent to the citizenry that the leading political elite are not ready to do the right thing except if they are compelled to do so.
 
While congratulating Nigerians, especially workers, for their sacrifice, resilience and robust spirit, despite serial acts of betrayal of monumental proportions by the political leadership, Ajaero urged the downtrodden Nigerians, who bear the burden of the broken promises, exploitation and corruption not to give up hope on their country. 
 
Because their sacrifice has been taken for granted for so long, Ajaero said that they should learn to protest within the limits of the law against injustices and subversion of democratic norms, culture and values by the dominant political elite.

PDP also urged Nigerians “not to surrender to the bullying tactics of the APC administration, which seeks to undermine the Constitution, emasculate citizens, compromise institutions of democracy and turn Nigeria into a fiefdom where APC leaders arrogantly carry on like lords and treat other citizens as conquered people.”
 
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the opposition party noted: “The Independence Day celebration is not the symbolic marching at parade grounds, taking of salutes, inspection of guards and making of speeches; it is the freedom of the citizens to express themselves, pursue legitimate endeavours and freely participate in the process to choose those who lead them through an unhindered expression of their will at elections”.
 
According to the PDP, the independence of a nation is embedded in the respect for the rule of law and constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens by a transparent and responsible government that is democratically elected, answerable and committed only to the good of the people.
 
It lamented, “Since its calamitous arrival in the Nigerian political space, the APC continues to barefacedly stifle these fundamentals of our nation’s independence. 
 
“It is, therefore, an irony that the APC deludes itself that Nigerians should celebrate Independence, which essence has been completely diminished by the anti-people policies and programmes of the APC that have not only discounted the lives of citizens but also deprived them of the independence to legitimately pursue their endeavours and freely participate in governance.”
 
PDP urged the Federal Government to, without further delay, reduce the pump price of fuel and stem the slide in the value of the naira by reordering resources to jumpstart the ailing productive sector.