Ex- House Member, Shina Peller, Pushes for Credible Opposition

Kemi  Olaitan in Ibadan

Former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Shina Peller, has warned that if democracy must survive in the country there must be a credible voice for the opposition.

Peller while criticizing the alleged attempt to emansculate the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the mass exodus of its governors and other top politicians in the country, emphasised that the only prospect for democracy is the existence of a voice for the opposition.

He maintained that without a credible voice for the opposition democracy is doomed in Nigeria.

Peller, who represented Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal Constituency in the 9th National Assembly, speaking in Iseyin at the 2026 Ramadan Lecture titled, “The importance of Community Development in Islam,” expressed concerns on the attempt by some political actors to ensure that they silence the voice of the opposition, stating that such a move would bring calamity on the nation’s political space.

The lecture, which was in honour of his late magician father, Prof. Abiola Peller who died in 1997, attracted scores of Muslim faithful across the Oke Ogun zone.

He said: ” For me, it’s not what I see about the prospect of PDP, it is what I see about the prospect of democracy, and this is what I want people to know. You know, what PDP is after is for there to be a balanced democracy.

“There must be a voice for the opposition. So, it’s not about PDP, and our leaders must know this. They cannot live for yesterday, live today, and live tomorrow. Many people are fighting for the PDP not to survive. These people, they become governors, they become ministers, but they have younger ones who are looking up to what they want to do. So, everyone is writing their own story.

“And even the judiciary, this goes back to them as well, if they call you a judge, part of the 10 commandment says ” You shall not judge, then you, you’re now a judge and you think that you will misjudge people, and even in the Quran it said specifically, that if you’re a judge, you have to be just. These are important instruments in upholding democracy, and people must know this.”

Peller also urged leaders to ensure they live a righteous life, reminding them that they came to this life with nothing and will leave with nothing.

The guest lecturer, Sheik Jamiu Ajadi Sanusi a.k.a. Ami Olorun, in his lecture, charged Nigerians to invest in humanity, especially the youths, for a better tomorrow.

“When you build community, it means you built the entire world. If you lack in building community, mainly, Youth, human resources, when you build humans, then you build the entire world. You built what will come after you. And I urged all our politicians, the traditional rulers, and all wealthy men and women around the community to support, to build people, to let people fly, to support their dreams, to support their tomorrow and future,” he said.