Timi Frank, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, is sounding a serious alarm. The court-ordered deregistration of the African Democratic Congress and four other opposition political parties, he warns, could push Nigeria toward a national crisis if it is allowed to stand.
Frank's concern sits at the heart of a broader question about the health of Nigerian democracy. Opposition parties, however small, serve as checks on power. Removing them from the political landscape does not just shrink the ballot. It shrinks the room citizens have to hold their government accountable.
The warning comes from someone who knows the ruling party from the inside. Frank's APC background gives his criticism a particular weight. He is not speaking as an outsider looking in, he is speaking as someone familiar with how political power operates at the top.
Five parties facing deregistration is not a small number. It is a pattern, and Frank clearly wants Nigerians to pay attention to what that pattern means for the elections ahead.
Originally published by AllAfrica.