Opposition Parties Fear Deregistration, Says Baba-Ahmed

The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has raised concerns over what he described as an increasingly hostile political environment, warning that opposition parties across Nigeria are living with the fear of possible deregistration.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Baba-Ahmed said recent developments involving political parties and court rulings had heightened uncertainty, leaving opposition parties unsure of their future.

Asked whether the PRP was worried about the possibility of deregistration, Baba-Ahmed replied: “I don’t think any party in the opposition sleeps with both eyes.”

When pressed further on whether the concern extended to his party, he said: “Every party, except APC.”

According to him, any opposition party that claims to feel completely secure is ignoring the current political reality.

“Any party that tells you that they feel absolutely comfortable, then they’re not serious about being a political party in this country,” he said, describing the prevailing atmosphere as “very unnerving.”

His comments come in the wake of a Federal High Court judgment in Lokoja, Kogi State, which deregistered the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) after setting aside an earlier ruling that had directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the party.

The court’s decision followed an application by the Peace Movement Party (PMP), which argued that it was not joined in the original suit that led to the NDC’s registration.

Baba-Ahmed also reflected on the PRP’s political roots, dismissing claims that the party derived its relevance from the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello.

“No, it’s not Sardauna. Actually, we were a thorn in the flesh of Sardauna. We weren’t his party; we opposed him,” he said.

On national security, the PRP chairman criticised the Federal Government’s renewed push for state police, arguing that strengthening existing security institutions should take precedence over creating new ones.

“President Tinubu’s administration has been in power for more than three years. The issue of state police has been on the table for longer than Tinubu’s government. If it’s such a crucial element for improving our security, you would think a serious government, a serious president, would have said, ‘Let’s do state police.’ It’s been there all along,” he stated.

Baba-Ahmed maintained that the military and the Nigeria Police Force could still be repositioned to tackle insecurity more effectively.

“There are still 101 things President Tinubu can do with what he has on the ground to improve our security, to bring an end to all this stealing of human beings and killing of human beings,” he said.

He warned that establishing state police without first fixing the shortcomings of the federal police could worsen the country’s security challenges.

“You have the federal police that has failed to do any work. So what you’re doing is saying, ‘Governors, create your own police and go and do what you want to do with them.’ You are compounding the problem that we have,” Baba-Ahmed added.