Nenadi Usman, chairperson of the Labour Party (LP) caretaker committee, has described the recent turmoil at the All Progressives Congress (APC) North-East stakeholders’ summit in Gombe as “political karma,” responding to President Bola Tinubu’s earlier remarks ridiculing internal crises within opposition parties.
The summit on Sunday, June 15, descended into chaos after some APC leaders endorsed President Tinubu for a second term while deliberately excluding Vice-President Kashim Shettima from recognition. This omission sparked outrage among delegates, who disrupted the meeting with protests and threats of violence.
The incident unfolded just days after Tinubu mocked opposition parties for their divisions, saying it was “a pleasure to watch them in disarray.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, June 17, Usman linked the APC’s internal conflict directly to the president’s earlier comments.
“Today, we witness the irony of history in motion. Just days after the president’s unguarded and undemocratic remarks, his own party, the APC, has descended into public crisis in the North East,” she said.
Usman accused the ruling party of pushing a one-sided political agenda, ignoring democratic principles, and sidelining their own vice-president.
“In their reckless bid to enforce a one-person agenda without regard for process, respect, or even the dignity of their own Vice President, the APC has exposed the rot at the core of their politics,” she stated.
Highlighting the North-East region’s rejection of this approach, she described the party as fractured and publicly divided. “This is not poetic justice. It is political karma. What President Tinubu wished for others has turned to plague his own political household,” she added.
Usman further criticized Tinubu’s comments for undermining democracy, saying, “A president who celebrates the weakening of opposition is, by extension, celebrating the weakening of democracy itself.”
She called on Nigerians to demand a political culture that protects—not silences—the opposition, emphasizing its vital role in the nation’s democratic health.
