Steering Away from One-Party State
Whilst the President Bola Tinubu-led administration has strongly rejected allegations of coercing and blackmailing of state governors and other elected officials to the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 elections, many political analysts have continued to highlight the dangers of plunging Nigeria into a one-party state, Wale Igbintadewrites
The recent trend of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by members of opposition political parties has unsettled some civil society organisations (CSOs), analysts and leading political figures in the country, who are concerned that the mass exodus is a threat to multi-party democracy.
Last week, a few of the leading civil society activists and political figures expressed concerns over what they described as a calculated and systematic effort by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to dismantle democratic foundations and reduce Nigeria to a one-party state.
The analysts, who vowed to resist the move, said that democracy without opposition is not a democracy, expressing worry over the weaponisation of state institutions for partisan gain, adding that it undermines the “integrity of our democracy.”
Not too long ago, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, his deputy, Monday Onyeme, and his commissioners defected from Nigeria’s main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling APC.
Oborevwori’s predecessor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, who was the PDP vice presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, also defected to the ruling party.
Okowa dumped the PDP about five months after he was quizzed by the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over corruption allegations.
There are also strong indications that Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and his benefactor and predecessor, Udom Emmanuel are likely to defect to APC anytime soon.
Eno had on Wednesday hinted that he would likely join the ruling party as he likened the PDP to a “faulty aeroplane” which might not take its passengers to their destination.
In January 2024, Senator Godswill Akpabio said it was abnormal for him as Senate President not to have the APC produce a governor of his state in 2027.
Speaking at a meeting of the APC leaders in Uyo, the state capital, Akpabio said: “It will be an aberration for the number three citizen not to have a governor from the same party at the end of an election.
“You know, wherever the senate president is, that is where the party is. Is it possible that Nigeria will give Akwa Ibom the number three citizen and at the end of the election, it will not produce an APC governor?”
The wave of defections is not limited to the South-south. In the North, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), which made an impressive showing in the last general election, especially in Kano State under the leadership of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has seen a haemorrhage of key figures. Last week, Kano South Senator Kawu Sumaila resigned from the party and joined the APC. The lawmaker said the move was driven by his “unwavering commitment to the welfare of his constituents.”
Also, serving senators, members of the House of Representatives, and other opposition figures are decamping en masse to the ruling party, not out of conviction, but out of fear and pressure.
For many, these defections to the APC are quite troubling. At a time when the state of the nation is sorry and sordid, it is inconceivable that political leaders and notable citizens should be trooping into the very party that is squarely responsible for running the nation aground.
Although Nigeria is constitutionally a multi-party democracy, the country has increasingly functioned as a de facto one-party state since the APC assumed power in 2015. The party has consolidated control over the presidency, the National Assembly, and a majority of state governments.
Under Tinubu’s administration, the steady consolidation of power by the party has moved from being a political trend to what some now consider a systematic dismantling of opposition strength.
Fearing that the 2027 presidential will not be an easy win for him especially in the North, there are clandestine plot to use every available means to woo some governors particularly those in the opposition and other big wigs to the APC.
This is because despite the fact that 25 governors supported Tinubu in 2023, he won only 12 states with others shared between Atiku Ababukar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
But beyond defections lies a more profound issue: the inability of Nigeria’s opposition parties to put their house in order. The PDP, which ruled Nigeria for 16 uninterrupted years, is now a shadow of its former self, riddled with internal crises, factionalisation, and a chronic failure to adapt to the demands of modern opposition politics.
Analysts have argued that if the current trend of defections continues unchecked, Nigeria risks becoming a de facto one-party state—an outcome that history has shown to be detrimental to national development and civil liberty.
Since the assumption of office by President Tinubu, Nigerians have suffered untold hardships, massive unemployment, hunger, and inflation at about 33 per cent, deplorable state of roads, epileptic power supply, massive insecurity – killings and kidnapping – and inability of people to go to their farms, To add to the pains of Nigerians, the naira was floated and rendered worthless, and bills are on top of the roof with high levels of insensitivity, nonchalance, extravagance and affluence on the part of government officials, including, of course, members of the National Assembly.
This is why analysts have accused the administration of using “blackmail and coercion” to weaken opposition parties, claiming that political figures are defecting to the ruling party “not out of conviction, but out of fear and pressure.”
In a statement titled ‘Defending democracy: A call to resist a one-party state in Nigeria,’ signed by Prof Chidi Odinkalu, Richard Akinnola, Abdul Mahmud, Dr. Sam Amadi, Auwa Ibrahim Musa (Rasfajani), Prof Adele Jinadu, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, and others, the analysts said they would resist any attempt by the Tinubu administration to foist a one-party state on Nigeria.
They denounced constant invitations of key opposition by the EFCC for questioning on financial impropriety and weaponisation of state institutions for partisan gains, saying that it corrodes public trust and undermines the integrity of the country’s democracy.
“Under this administration, political pluralism is being eroded not by persuasion or performance, but by bribery, blackmail, and coercion. Serving and former governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and key opposition figures are decamping en masse to the ruling party, not out of conviction, but out of fear and pressure. The pattern is disturbingly clear: An invitation by the EFCC for questioning on financial impropriety is swiftly followed by political capitulation. This weaponisation of state institutions for partisan gain corrodes public trust and undermines the integrity of our democracy.
“The drift toward a one-party state is a betrayal of the ideals that many of us—and indeed President Tinubu himself – fought for during the darkest days of military dictatorship. It is not what we envisioned when we stood in the streets demanding civil rule. It is not what the Constitution guarantees. And it is not what Nigeria’s future demands.”
They urged President Tinubu “to respect the democratic path that brought him to power” and to “end the persecution and intimidation of opposition leaders.
They noted that they did not fight to end military dictatorship only to enthrone civilian authoritarianism, adding that they will fight to defend democracy or risk losing it forever.
“A democracy without opposition is not a democracy,” the group said, warning that the weaponisation of state institutions for partisan gain “corrodes public trust and undermines the integrity of our democracy.”
However, Tinubu has countered critics, saying democracy is not under any threat. According to him, politicians changing party affiliation is not new or peculiar to Nigeria and can be seen in more advanced democracies, where there are ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed their parties.
He further stated that the accusations that the administration is moving towards authoritarianism are baseless and exaggerated.
The president, who spoke via a statement issued by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, wondered why the defection of some members of the ruling party APC like the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) should be celebrated, while the defection of some members of the opposition party should be condemned.
Tinubu told the opposition elements in the country to lick their wounds and stop blaming him for their alleged gross incompetence in managing the affairs of their party.
The statement titled: ‘Democracy strong and alive in Nigeria, ignore alarmists,’ partly read: “We have read the alarming claims of disgruntled opposition figures, some partisan human rights crusaders and emergency defenders of democracy over recent defections of key members of opposition parties into the governing APC.
“Contrary to the false claims in the propaganda materials in circulation across mainstream and social media, democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria. Accusations that the administration is moving towards authoritarianism are baseless and exaggerated.
“Nigerians migrating to the APC and expressing support for Tinubu are doing so out of their free will, based on the belief that the reforms being executed are in the interest of Nigerians and the unborn generation. It is a gross disservice to democracy in itself for these emergency defenders of democracy to delegitimise the political choices of some Nigerians while upholding the choices of others to form a coalition against Tinubu and APC.”
