Presidency: Tinubu Not Plotting One-Party State, Defections No Threat to Democracy

The presidency has dismissed concerns that recent defections of opposition leaders to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are part of a plot to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

Last Wednesday, Sheriff Oborevwori, the governor of Delta State, and his immediate predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, officially dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the APC. They were joined by other top PDP chieftains in Delta, deepening the wave of defections.

Similarly, prominent figures from the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano State defected to the APC on April 24, an event that saw Abdullahi Ganduje, the APC national chairman, welcoming them into the fold.

These movements have triggered sharp criticisms, with many stakeholders and opposition politicians warning of an alleged attempt to erode Nigeria’s multiparty democracy. Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation magazine, was among those accusing the ruling party of coercing opponents into its ranks.

Responding on Sunday, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, described the allegations against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as “false, baseless, exaggerated.”

“Contrary to the false claims in the propaganda materials in circulation across mainstream and social media, democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria,” Onanuga said in a statement.

He stressed that the presidency has no official policy designed to weaken opposition parties. “We must add that no policy, official action, or directive from the Presidency seeks to ‘dismantle democracy’ or ‘weaken opposition or create a one-party state,’” he said.

Onanuga argued that the president bears no responsibility for organising or strengthening opposition parties. “The opposition cannot blame President Tinubu and the governing APC for their poor organisation, indiscipline, and gross incompetence in managing their affairs,” he said. “It is certainly not part of President Tinubu’s job to organise or strengthen opposition parties.”

Taking aim at critics, he said: “Accusations of bribery, blackmail, and the weaponisation of state institutions only exist in the idle minds of politicians and their agents who have failed in their assigned role of opposition and are fishing for scapegoats.”

Onanuga also pointed out what he called the hypocrisy of some political actors. “We find it curious that those who celebrated the defection of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the formation of a regional grand coalition with the sole aim of defeating President Tinubu in the 2027 election are the same people shedding crocodile tears over Nigeria’s so-called drift to a one-party state and authoritarianism,” he said.

He further criticised the opposition for remaining silent when politicians were forming coalitions against the president along “dangerous regional lines,” long before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially opened political activities for 2027.

“While the latter-day defenders of democracy raised no anxious voice against the disgruntled politicians cobbling an anti-Tinubu, anti-APC coalition along dangerous regional lines, even before INEC blows the whistle for party politicking, they are quick to ascribe the political shifts in some states to ‘bribery, blackmail, and coercion’ without any shred of evidence,” he stated.

Onanuga concluded by reaffirming that the rights of Nigerians to free political association remain intact. “Without any equivocation, freedom of association, freedom of speech and freedom of choice are part of the cherished ideals of democracy. When politicians and citizens cannot freely join any association or political party of their choice or cannot openly express their views, democracy is imperilled,” he said.

He added: “Those opposed to the Tinubu administration should understand that they can issue diatribes, without fear, against the government because we practice a thriving democracy.”

The post Presidency: Tinubu Not Plotting One-Party State, Defections No Threat to Democracy appeared first on Kano Times.