The Coalition for Democracy, an umbrella body of opposition political parties, has described the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dissolved the Mark-led leadership of the ADC and invalidated its presidential candidacy, as a dangerous escalation and a systematic campaign to eliminate credible political opposition ahead of the 2027 general election.
The coalition emerged from the G100 Opposition Summit held in Abuja on August 31. Its members include the ADC, Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Youth Progressives Party (YPP).
It was established to give practical expression to the resolutions of the summit and is committed to defending Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, protecting political pluralism and ensuring free, fair, credible and competitive elections.
In a statement, the coalition warned that what was happening to the ADC could happen to every opposition party.
Its National Coordinator, Salihu Moh. Lukman, raised concerns over what he described as Nigeria’s shrinking democratic space, citing attacks on opposition supporters, obstruction of political activities and the increasing weaponisation of state institutions against political competitors.
Lukman said: “When opposition parties are attacked on the streets, frustrated by state institutions, and threatened with elimination through judicial pronouncements, Nigerians must ask whether the ruling party still intends to face any meaningful opposition at the ballot box.
“While the Coalition respects the independence of the judiciary and the right of aggrieved parties to seek legal redress, the courts must never become instruments through which political competition is extinguished.
“Those who seek to destroy the opposition in order to guarantee their own victory must understand that they are not merely threatening political parties; they are threatening the very foundations of the Republic. A government that cannot tolerate opposition has lost the moral authority to call itself democratic.”
He added: “When a government becomes more afraid of the opposition than it is accountable to the people, democracy itself is in danger. This is why the Coalition warns that the continued narrowing of the democratic space in Nigeria carries grave consequences for national stability. No democracy can remain peaceful when citizens are denied meaningful political alternatives.
“The ballot must remain the battlefield of democracy. No political party should be allowed to achieve through institutional manipulation what it fears it cannot achieve through the votes of Nigerians.
“We therefore stand in solidarity with the ADC in its decision to challenge this judgment through the appropriate judicial processes. We call on all opposition parties, civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association, organised labour, the media and patriotic Nigerians to unite in peaceful, lawful resistance against every attempt to undermine political pluralism.
“Let it be known: the Coalition for Democracy will not stand by while Nigeria is reduced to a democracy without opposition, elections without alternatives, and ballots without genuine choices.
“An attack on one is an attack on all. We will resist it together,” Lukman said
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