- Aregbesola warned that citizens cannot endure endless economic strain, insisting a breaking point would eventually force a political shift.
- He said insecurity, drug prices, and hardship were clear indicators of government failure and the need for urgent intervention.
The former minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has called for urgent measures to rescue Nigeria from worsening hardship.
Aregbesola, who is interim national secretary of the African Democratic Congress, spoke at a political event in Lagos on Saturday.
He welcomed stakeholders from the Labour Party, Peoples Democratic Party, and other groups into the ADC coalition ahead of the 2027 election.
The ex-minister said the present political order had failed the people and must give way to a new system.
Quoting the late Obafemi Awolowo, Aregbesola argued that the nation’s political structure no longer served the welfare of citizens.
“Embedded in this profound statement, and drawing from the Hegelian notion of dialectics, is the unavoidable truth that the existing political order, which is the thesis, will be confronted by its antithesis, bringing it to an end. A new order will therefore emerge as the synthesis,” he said.
He described the cost of living as unbearable, warning that starvation was “literally stalking the land.”
“Any government that does not make the wellbeing of its people the basis of governance will soon lose relevance and collapse,” Aregbesola added.
The former governor of Osun State said insecurity, high cost of drugs, and rising poverty underscored the need for change.
“There is a limit to how much the people can be squeezed and pushed before something eventually gives,” he said.
He maintained that the mission of the ADC coalition was urgent and necessary to save Nigeria from its challenges.
“This is why our mission is urgent and our intervention has become absolutely necessary. We must act now to save the nation,” he said.
He also recalled how opposition parties defeated President Bola Tinubu in Lagos during the 2023 presidential election.
“What we did in Lagos is still unbeatable. We defeated a candidate there against all odds,” Aregbesola said.
The ex-minister said he was encouraged by the growing enthusiasm of citizens and politicians joining the ADC coalition.
The event formed part of the ADC’s mobilisation strategy ahead of the next general elections.