There is growing concern about Nigeria titling towards a one-party state. At a recent national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja, former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, amplified these concerns when he said the country was on the verge of becoming a one-party state and losing its democracy. He blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu for this scenario.
“We really are at a crossroads in this democratic experiment. We either decide we want to be democratic or we decide to abandon it,” Atiku warned. He further alleged that he met with a political party leadership in the present opposition, and they told him flatly that “this government gives them N50 million each. Where do we go from here?”
Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, made similar allegations. He described the state of the opposition in Nigeria and the quality of governance as a national emergency. He urged the opposition parties to unite and form a broad platform to protect democracy. Noting that the opposition parties were targeted for destruction, el-Rufai alleged that there were internal mercenaries in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had been hired or motivated to destroy the party, which, he regretted, was on its way to the grave.
Unfortunately, leadership crises have crippled the major opposition parties in Nigeria. In the PDP, there are moves and counter moves to remove Umar Damagun as the acting national chairman. In the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure and Senator Nenadi Usman are laying claims to the national chairmanship of the party, although the Court of Appeal in Abuja recently ruled that Abure is the substantive national chairman. The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) is similarly embroiled in crisis as the leader of the party, Musa Kwankwaso, has altercations with the camp loyal to the founder of the party, Boniface Aniebonam. All these have in no small way affected the fortunes of the parties at the recent polls in some states.
It is pertinent to note that soon after the general election of 2023, former Kano State governor and National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, said the ruling party was holding discussions to get some opposition parties to be part of the APC. Ganduje again spoke of using the Edo governorship election template to win the state governorship elections in Ondo and Anambra states. Besides, President Tinubu appointed some opposition party members into his administration. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, for instance, is still a member of the PDP though he is serving the ruling party.
Ironically, the PDP also tried to muscle the opposition parties when it was in power. An official of the party, at some point, boasted that it would be in power for 60 years. It was the then opposition APC that alerted the nation to the authoritarian tendency of the PDP. President Tinubu, who was one of the opposition leaders then, warned against allowing the country to become a one-party state.
In this crisis of confidence, opposition parties share in the blame. It is a known fact that most Nigerian politicians have no principles or ideology. Hence, they jump from the opposition party to the ruling party where they believe their bread will be better buttered. About 18 LP lawmakers, for instance, defected to the APC after the 2023 elections. In Rivers State, the PDP lost some senators, members of the House of Representatives as well as 27 members of the State House of Assembly to the APC. If the opposition parties put their houses in order, it will be difficult for the ruling party to destroy them.
We urge the ruling party to accommodate opposing views. That is the beauty of democracy. Nigeria cannot afford to be a one-party state. We can only move forward where we have multiple parties. In the first, second and third republics, we had a robust multiparty system. The opposition parties then acted as serious checks on the overbearing attitude of the ruling party. Though we have multiple parties in this republic, it appears the opposition parties are being muscled to submission. They should wake up and put their house in order.
Developed democracies don’t joke with opposition parties. Even in some West African countries like Ghana, politicians don’t defect as we do here. In that country’s last presidential election, the then opposition party candidate, John Mahama, won. The ruling party needs the opposition to perform better. One-party system is antithetical to democracy and development. We should do everything possible to ensure that the opposition parties survive.
One major way to achieve this is to play by the rules. As long as we keep making our politics a do-or-die affair or winner-takes-all, we will continue to encounter this type of problem. Carpet-crossing should be discouraged. Party members should be principled enough to stay in their parties. Besides, citizens, civil society groups and the media should brace up, raise awareness and demand strict adherence to democratic principles and the rule of law.