By
Gideon Dauda
04-10-2025
The All Progressives Congress (APC) at the national level has worked relentlessly to hijack the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), leaving what was once a vibrant opposition as a body without life or voice. In Kaduna State today, the same script is being played out only with a more subtle and luring approach.
The ruling party in Kaduna state has total control over local government structures, secured through the glaring theft of the 2024 local government elections. Now, they painstakingly planing and executing to lure opposition legislators into its fold.
The governor already has the council chairmen and councilors in his pocket. Now, he wants to have all the state and federal legislators too. If this succeeds, then all lawmakers from Southern Kaduna will find themselves under the same political umbrella, effectively disarming their legislative independence and surrendering the sacred duty of checks and balances to the whims and caprices of the executive.
This is a dangerous trend a dagger pointed at the heart of our democracy. In a century where robust opposition should be the order of the day, Kaduna and Nigeria as a whole seems to be drifting backward in the laughable name of political alignment.
A reasonable mind guided by deep logic, sound thinking, and syllogism will see clearly that the Southern Kaduna Renaissance Front (SKRF) appears to be functioning as an unofficial department of the ruling party, propagating the political gospel of defections from the opposition to the APC. How can a group that claims neutrality openly encourage politicians, who were elected under the platform of the opposition, to defect to the ruling party?
I am dumbfounded that such a group would describe the defection of legislators as “strategic” and claim it aligns with the aspirations of Southern Kaduna people. Such careless statements come at a time when the core pillar of democracy opposition is being deliberately weakened by the enemies of our democratic progress the rulling APC.
Conversely, their call on Senator Sunday Katung to join the ruling party is both unfair and insulting to the electorate of Southern Kaduna, who stood firmly and voted for him against all odds during the wave of the Obidient Movement in 2023 elections and it will be a betrayer of the trust of the southern Kaduna Electorates if he dire to join the ruling opposition. Today, our people are witnessing the dividends of that bold choice. Let’s be clear if Katung had been in the APC, he would not have achieved what he has achieved so far. Opposition brings balance, accountability, fairness to governance and development.
I therefore call on Senator Katung to reject this deceptive call from a politically hypnotized group acting as agents in the wilderness of the APC. He should remain focused on delivering the mandate freely given to him by the people of Southern Kaduna. If he continues to serve with excellence and integrity, the people will suo moto reward him again in 2027 in any opposition party he so wishes to Vye for election.
Let it be known that the voices of this group do not, in any way, represent the democratic spirit of our people. Southern Kaduna has always stood for fairness, justice, and democratic accountability not blind political assimilation.
A closer look at thriving democracies across Africa will reveal one truth: strong opposition builds strong nations;
In South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), led by Julius Malema, have kept the government on its toes ensuring that the voice of the people is never silenced.
In Ghana, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has remained a vibrant opposition, providing a model of democratic resilience worthy of emulation.
In Uganda, Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) has become the conscience of the nation, mobilizing young people and demanding government accountability despite persecution.
In The Gambia and Sierra Leone, opposition parties continue to demand electoral reforms, transparency, and justice further strengthening their democratic systems.
This is what true democracy looks like.
The SKRF, if it is genuinely committed to the progress of Southern Kaduna, should channel its energy towards advocating for electoral reforms, condemning the undemocratic appointment of council chairmen and councilors by the governor, and raising their voices against unreported insecurity bedeviling southern kaduna, and lopsided appointments that continue to plague our region in the Uba Sani administration.
If we do not stand now and resist the creeping establishment of a one-party system in Kaduna and Nigeria, we risk mortgaging our democratic future. Our children, and generations yet unborn, will not forgive us for our silence. Posterity will hold us accountable.
As the great Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah once said:
“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart. But democracy dies not from assassination, but from indifference”
Let us not be indifferent. Let us rise in defense of opposition, fairness, and true democracy.
Southern Kaduna must stand tall and reject every attempt to silence the opposition voice. For in doing so, we defend not just our region, but the very soul of Nigeria’s democracy.
God forbid to one-party dictatorship in Kaduna and Nigeria.
God bless Southern Kaduna!
God Bless Kaduna!
God bless Nigeria!