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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the action of the United States President, Donald Trump, against the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, was a timely warning and lessons to Federal Government.
The ADC, in a statement by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, faulted the silence of the Nigerian government over the incident. It is said the silence of the government can be explained as fear by President Bola Tinubu that the same fate may befall him.
Maduro was captured in his country and taken to the US, in an operation authorized by President Trump. The development has sparked diverse reactions across the globe.
The opposition party noted that while it supports the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, it believes that a government that is contemptuous of its national laws and tramples on the rights of its citizens “opens itself up for external interference.”
According to the party, the sovereignty of a country must ultimately reflect the will of the people and not just the survival of a regime. It stated that democracy, across the world, beyond elections must translate to freedom, fairness and a happier life for the citizens.
“The ADC considers Saturday’s action by the United States Government to arrest the President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro and his wife as a clear warning that sends a strong message to the Nigerian government and any other government that lacks legitimacy.
“ADC strongly supports the principles of sanctity of national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of another country as enshrined as enshrined in Articles 2(1) and 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, principles that underpin global peace and order.
“Nevertheless, we maintain that these international governance doctrines that were ordinarily designed to maintain global order should not be invoked to provide a safe haven for tyranny, electoral fraud, or the systematic denial of a people’s right to freely choose their leaders.
“It is public knowledge that the 2024 Venezuela presidential elections were widely condemned as illegitimate and deeply flawed by nine governments across Latin America, the European Union, and international democratic institutions, all pointing to a process marked by fraud, repression and exclusion.
“Political opponents were barred from contesting, peaceful protests were met with violence, state institutions were weaponized against the very citizens they exist to serve. The net consequence of this has been mass migration at a scale that undermines regional stability.
“While the United States intervention raises serious and legitimate questions under international law, one reality cannot be ignored. The visible wave of popular public support that followed within Venezuela speaks to a deeper crisis of legitimacy of the Maduro government.
“When citizens pour into the streets in celebration, it reveals more than approval of an intervention, it exposes the bankruptcy of the regime that has been upended,” the party noted.
Furthermore, the ADC stated that it is “ deeply embarrassing that more than 48 hours after the situation in Venezuela, the Nigerian government is yet to react in any way. This silence by the APC-led Bola Tinubu administration is a further indication that Nigeria, under President Tinubu, has lost both voice and standing on the international stage.
“At a moment when the world is grappling with the difficult balance between sovereignty, democracy, and accountability, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest democracy, is conspicuously absent.
“Apart from the lamentable decline in Nigeria’s global and national standing under this administration, this silence reflects the government’s moral crisis which removes its legitimacy to take a principled stand on anything.
“Let’s be clear, that the Nigerian government has chosen silence at this moment has nothing to do with neutrality. It instead reveals a government that lacks confidence simply because it lacks integrity. “
