As Nigeria marks her 65th Independence anniversary, foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has criticized the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over its recent statement opposing President Bola Tinubu’s push for a permanent seat for Nigeria on the United Nations Security Council.
Okechukwu described ADC’s stance as “unpatriotic, incongruous, and the height of ignorance,” adding that it was misguided and disingenuous to equate Nigeria’s noble quest for global leadership with the nation’s current security challenges.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Okechukwu said he endorsed Vice President Kashim Shettima’s historic UN speech where he stated: “Our case for a permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for African representation, and for reform that restores credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism rests.”
He said: “This is a bold, visionary call for Nigeria to assume its rightful place on the global stage, to represent Africa. Nigerians fought in WWII on the side of the Allied forces who, after victory, became permanent members of the UN Security Council.”
He lamented that the ADC had turned itself into a serial pushback against national unity and progress, describing its pattern of political missteps as “one week, one unforced error.”
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, had issued a statement saying: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) finds it absurd that the Tinubu administration could be requesting a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council even as bandits slaughter Nigerians at home and take control of some of the nation’s territories.
“We wonder how a government that cannot ensure peace or security at home could demand a seat at the table where global security is negotiated and expect to be taken seriously.”
Responding, Okechukwu stressed that asymmetrical security challenges should not be used to undermine Nigeria’s hard-earned international standing, noting that every great nation balances political ambition with patriotic goals.
“Methinks that this UN Security Council seat is not for Bola Tinubu’s Emilokan, but a strategic asset for Nigeria and Africa — a step towards resorgimento, where our voice is heard and we participate in shaping global peace and security.
“For ADC to ridicule such a quest is not only a short-sighted unforced error, but purely unpatriotic to our collective national interest.”
Okechukwu appealed to the ADC leadership that, instead of divisive tendencies and unforced errors, it should as a matter of urgent national importance apologise to “our sister political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which they demolished.”
“Sincerely, we in the APC, in the interest of viable democracy in our dear fatherland, want ADC to unite with PDP and form a formidable opposition party before they start hauling blame games,” Okechukwu added.
Osita Okechukwu hits ADC as Nigeria seeks permanent UN Security Council seat