… Says Tinubu’s Silence Induced By Fear
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has charged the Nigerian government to learn a lesson from the United States’ attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolas Moduro and his wife, Cilia.
The couple had since been taken to the US to face trail for alleged drug related offences, among other crimes.
Th ADC, in a statement on Monday by its spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the treatment given to Moduro and his wife was a timely warning and lessons to the Nigerian government in many respects.
The party also criticised the failure of the Nigerian government to react to the development, as other countries and world leaders have done.
Describing President Bola Tinubu’s silence over the Venezuelan case as deeply embarrassment, the ADC said the Nigerian leader’s action can only be explained by his personal fear that he may suffer the fate of the disgraced Venezuelan leader.
Apart from the African Union, South Africa and Ghana have reacted to the development, condemning the action of the United States, saying it breached the principles of sovereignty of nations.
The opposition party said it supports the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, as argued by the AU, South Africa and Ghana.
It however expressed a belief that a government that holds its national laws in contempt and tramples on the rights of its citizens, opens itself up for external interference.
The ADC further noted that Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election was widely condemned, warning that authoritarian leaders and election riggers can no longer hide under sanctity of national borders to protect their stolen mandates.
The party said the Venezuela affair sends a clear warning that sends a strong message to the Nigerian government and any other government that lacks legitimacy.
“ADC strongly supports the principles of sanctity of national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of another country as enshrined as enshrined in Articles 2(1) and 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, principles that underpin global peace and order.
“Nevertheless, we maintain that these international governance doctrines that were ordinarily designed to maintain global order should not be invoked to provide a safe haven for tyranny, electoral fraud, or the systematic denial of a people’s right to freely choose their leaders.
“It is public knowledge that the 2024 Venezuela presidential elections were widely condemned as illegitimate and deeply flawed by nine governments across Latin America, the European Union, and international democratic institutions, all pointing to a process marked by fraud, repression and exclusion.
“Political opponents were barred from contesting, peaceful protests were met with violence, state institutions were weaponised against the very citizens they exist to serve. The net consequence of this has been mass migration at a scale that undermines regional stability.
“While the United States intervention raises serious and legitimate questions under international law, one reality cannot be ignored. The visible wave of popular public support that followed within Venezuela speaks to a deeper crisis of legitimacy of the Maduro government.
“When citizens pour into the streets in celebration, it reveals more than approval of an intervention, it exposes the bankruptcy of the regime that has been upended.
ADC also considers as deeply embarrassing that more than 48 hours after the situation in Venezuela, the Nigerian government is yet to react in any way.
“This silence by the APC-led Bola Tinubu administration is a further indication that Nigeria, under President Tinubu, has lost both voice and standing on the international stage.
“At a moment when the world is grappling with the difficult balance between sovereignty, democracy, and accountability, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest democracy, is conspicuously absent.
“Apart from the lamentable decline in Nigeria’s global and national standing under this administration, this silence reflects the government’s moral crisis which removes its legimacy to take a principled stand on anything.
“Let’s be clear, that the Nigerian government has chosen silence in this moment has nothing to do with neutrality. It instead, reveals a government that lacks confidence simply because it lacks integrity, the ADC stated.
The party said it stands for the principle that sovereignty must ultimately reflect the will of the people, not merely the survival of a regime. “In Nigeria, in Venezuela, and across the world, democracy must mean more than ballots and electoralism,” it added.
The ADC insisted that democracy must translate to freedom, fairness, and a happier life for the citizens.
“In this context, the ADC believes that the situation in Venezuela is a cautionary tale to all dictators, including the supposedly elected ones, and election riggers everywhere. The world is watching, and contrived mandates will no longer find a place to hide,” the party concluded.
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