The Pathfinder
Tuesday February 24, 2026
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Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu, has said there are no strong opposition political parties or leaders in Nigeria, describing them as ineffective and disorganised.
Odinkalu criticised opposition leaders over their handling of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elections, saying they were docile and failed to provide effective leadership.
The former NHRC chairman specifically stated that, in his view, there is presently no credible opposition in Nigeria.
Speaking on Politics Today, a programme monitored on Channels Television, Monday, Odinkalu said the opposition failed to demonstrate leadership at a critical moment.
He specifically referenced the public holiday declared by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike on the eve of the election, arguing that opposition parties missed an opportunity to mobilise supporters in response.
According to him, a decisive opposition would have organised a rally the following day to challenge the move and energise its base. Instead, he alleged, opposition leaders remained inactive.
Odinkalu described the opposition as “an utter disgrace,” stating that the current political climate reflects a lack of seriousness among parties expected to provide checks on the ruling government.
He said:
“I think the opposition forces, you know, the ADC, whoever else; I don’t even know which PDP there is now, if there is any, because Nyesom Wike is APC faction of PDP, it seems to me.
“But the so-called opposition forces, in my view, are an utter disgrace. And I say that with no apologies to anybody.
“Now take an example: Nyesom Wike wakes up on Thursday night after people have started retiring to declare a public holiday. If I were a member of a political party, and I were a leader of a political party, I would call a rally on Friday. That was a fantastic opportunity for opposition leadership to prove itself.
“If you had political troops on the ground, call a rally on that Friday to dare him and use that to mobilise. What did they do? They were indoors, sleeping.
“It’s difficult to speak to the ineptitude of political opposition in Nigeria. They are not serious. And I think anybody who looks at the system has got to say that, at the moment, there is absolutely no opposition.
“What I do not understand, however, in the face of that, is why the ruling party still feels the need to manufacture the kinds of things it does, from violence to rewriting results to putting one where it should not be, turning hundreds into thousands. I do not understand why they feel the need to do that, because there is actually no opposition group.”
* Amupitan’s INEC failed woefully
In another development, Odinkalu described the handling of the FCT election by the INEC as a failure.
He said the commission under the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, failed to deliver a credible exercise.
Odinkalu argued that the shortcomings were not rooted in legal constraints but in what he described as a failure of will and poor electoral administration.
He said it was troubling that such lapses occurred in what he described as a relatively small election in the FCT, warning that the issues raised concerns about the commission’s preparedness for future polls.
Odinkalu said: “INEC failed. Amupitan’s INEC failed woefully. And on this evidence, nobody can trust Josh to organize credible elections in 2027 good stuff. There is nothing else to it, okay?
“No, it’s not about the law. It is about the failure of will. It’s a failure of electoral administration. And no, I’m actually not far from painting a gloomy picture of elections in Nigeria. I’m actually saying that the picture is far from gloomy. The election administrators have got to do their homework, and if they are not willing to do their homework, they should get the hell out.
“But one, electoral logistics were poor. Number two, the management of electoral rules were poor.
“You reassigned people to different electoral units, polling units, with few hours to elections. No education, no investment in voter education or information management, nothing.
“Number three, the violence was unacceptable. Four results manifestly were changed in different places. Collation glitched on the day. This is in a small election in the Federal Capital Territory. This is disgraceful. Joash failed.”
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