From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The opposition parties, including the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Young Progressives Party (YPP), had cumulatively secured a total of 183 seats in the 360-member House, against 177 seats won by the APC.

The opposition lawmakers-elect at the time, who christened themselves “the Greater Majority”, in a communique signed by the chairman of the Bayelsa State caucus, in the House, Fred Agbedi, and 18 others, assured Nigerians that they would remain together and offer an effective opposition to the federal government.

According to them, “the Greater Majority, with more than 180 elected members (being over 50 perecent of the elected members), would remain one indivisible coalition during the 10th National Assembly, with the interest of the country as its driving force.

“That the Greater Majority of the 10th National Assembly will be continually guided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with the collective interest of Nigerians being its major concern.”

Furthermore, the then lawmakers-elect urged Nigerians “not to lose hope due to the country’s current unpleasant situation, including the disunity plaguing the nation, which is the direct consequence of APC’s misrule and that the Greater Majority of the incoming 10th National Assembly will remedy these problems as a matter of priority.

“The Greater Majority will continue to unify the coalition of opposition parties so that it can be an effective check on the ruling party in order to safeguard the rule of law.”

Expectedly, Nigerians were ecstatic. Since the inception of the present democratic dispensation, it was unprecedented for opposition parties to outnumber the ruling party in Nigerian green chamber. Therefore, hopes were high that after the romance between the executive and legislature in the ninth assembly, the country would have a robust opposition in the 10th House. However, two years down the road, not a few say the hope invested on the opposition in the green chamber has evaporated.

In the last two years, no fewer than 30 members of the opposition had dumped their political parties for the ruling APC, further dimming hopes of the people for a viable opposition in the House, to the consternation of the leadership of opposition parties.

Also, pundits say opposition lawmakers, including those elected on the platform of the LP, who were considered a breath of fresh air, have failed to live up to expectations. The majority of the LP lawmakers had won their election on the crest of the popularity of the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who is generally perceived by Nigerians as heralding a new order in the polity.

Critics says the opposition members, contrary to the pledge after the 2023 general election, find it more convenient to toe the path of the ruling party in virtually every issue.

For instance, while there have been questions on the constitutional basis for the suspension of a state governor by the President and resort to voice votes by the parliament to approve emergency rule in Rivers State, the opposition caucus has remained silent on the issues.

President Bola Tinubu had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on account of the political crisis in the state and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Ngozi Odu, and the state of assembly. However, the parliament, in approving the emergency rule, resorted to voice vote, against the provisions of the Constitution that such matters be decided by a two-third majority, without a whimper from the opposition.

Ironically, prior to the commencement of the consideration of the President’s request on the Rivers State emergency rule, the member representing Ikwuano Federal Constituency of Abia State, Obi Aguocha, raised a constitutional Point of Order. Aguocha, as well Agbedi, had raised the Point Order, to insist that it should be ascertained if the House had formed a quorum for the session, in line with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Nonetheless, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, regardless of his assurances that the total number members present would be declared before voting, had gone ahead to approve the emergency rule through a voice vote.

Interestingly, the member representing Ideato Federal Constituency of Imo State, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, had told journalists the day before that the President lacked the power to suspend a governor, a deputy governor and a state assembly.

“Section 305, which gives the President power to declare a state of emergency, is not in doubt. But the President has no powers to suspend a democratically elected governor and deputy governor and a constitutional House of Assembly.

“There is no place where the Constitution gave him power to remove a sitting governor. There is no condition precedent for the emergency rule, but if this will lead to peace, we must act in accordance with the Constitution and remove the issue of removing an elected officer. We believe that this is unconstitutional and unfair,” Ugochinyere had stated.

Speaking on the role of the opposition in the National Assembly, a public affairs analyst, Jide Ojo, told Daily Sun in an interview that the opposition caucus at large has not done anything significant in terms of the pursuit of pro-people policies.

According to him, “We have not seen them demonstrate activeness particularly in terms of pro people policies and programmes. You know when the issue of purchase of officials cars came up, and people were expecting that Labour Party Reps members will not collect, they said no, they have to collect, it is their entitlement.” Ironically, the LP caucus leader, Afam Ogene, had told Daily Sun, shortly after the inauguration of the 10th House that  the party will put in place a Think Tank that will review policies of government and offer better alternatives.

“If anybody is expecting that we will wear boxing gloves, to plenary. No. That is not the way we intend to go. We intend to use our brains. To use our common ideology, which we will put together as Labour Party members to offer alternative viewpoints to any policy that we think is a no.

“We shall be naming   our political/ economic Think Tank in the House. We have already discussed this and agreed. And this Think Tank will review policies that the executive sends to the legislature and we will come out with our position paper on how it should go,” Ogene stated. The caucus is yet to constitute the Think Tank, two years after.

However, opposition leaders describe the defection of lawmakers as an attempt by the ruling APC to emasculate the opposition in the run-up to the 2027 general elections.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said “it portends the fact that it is democracy that is weakened by actors in this country, where ideology seems to have disappeared. That is why I am saying that the threat of this, because all these defections are to the APC; it is a threat to democracy and we are tilting very dangerously towards a one-party state, which is not good for democracy.”

Similarly, the ADC national chairman, Chief Okey Nwosu, in an interview with Daily Sun said “so, what is happening is a big challenge for everybody. Our democracy is being abused. It is being desecrated. The National Assembly are in charge of passing the laws. They cannot respect the laws that they passed. What do you call that? Rascality.”

While the opposition leaders continue to wring their hands helplessly over the defections in the Green chamber, unknown to many, the annexure of the opposition lawmakers   by the APC started ahead of the inauguration of the House.

Analysts blame the weakness of the opposition to the politics of the speakership contest and the indifference of the major opposition parties to the leadership contest.

Prior to the inauguration of the House, majority of the opposition members on the aegis of Greater Majority had boasted that they will leverage on their number to determine the leadership of the House.

On the other hand, another group of opposition lawmakers collaborated with the APC members to form the Joint Task- 10th Assembly. The objective of the Joint Task was to ensure that the choice of the ruling party for the leadership of the House prevailed. 

After the APC leadership settled for Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as its choice for speaker and deputy speaker respectively, the Greater Majority flirted briefly with the G-7 speakership contestants, consisting of former deputy speaker, Idris Wase and Aminu Jaji and five others.

Ironically, the leadership of the opposition parties, especially the PDP, which has the highest number of opposition lawmakers elected into the 10th assembly, were aloof while the politics of the House leadership raged.

In no time, the Greater Majority packed up, as the opposition lawmakers entered into individual bargains with the ruling party. Consequently, at the inauguration, all the 183 opposition lawmakers kowtowed to the APC and voted for the preferred candidates of the ruling party. Critics say from then on, the opposition lawmakers became subsumed into the APC, with only the names of their political parties as the only distinctive mark between them and the members of the ruling party.