By UZOMA ODUIGWE,

Editorial Consultant

The Presidency on Sunday dismissed opposition claims that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is tactfully tilting Nigeria towards a one-party system of government, asserting that "democracy is still alive and thriving in Nigeria."

The fear of looming one party state is occasioned by the recent sesmic-like defection of some very prominent members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which led the opposition party to run to the above conclusions.

It would be recalled that the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, the former governor and vice presidential candidate of PDP in the last election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, and some principal political actors in Delta State had recently defected from the PDP to the rulling APC, which according to many Nigerian political observers "may have thrown the opposition and their sympathisers into disarray."

Following the mass defections, the opposition PDP, in conjunction with what the Presidency have come to describe as "disgruntled opposition figures, partisan human rights crusaders and emergency defenders of democracy," tried to cry foul, accusing the ruling party of attempting to use state machinery to lure away, and attract prominent members of their party, to the ruling APC, thereby depopulating the opposition PDP.

The Presidency in a press release by Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, dated April 27, 2025, sympathised with the opposition party's "heartbreaks and disillusionment," over the issue. It, however, said that it found it "disturbing that they (PDP) resorted to peddling false allegations of the promotion of a one-party against President Bola Tinubu, who is working very hard to reverse decades of economic mismanagement of our country."

According to the Presidential Spokesman, "Contrary to the false claims in the sponsored 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."

The release added: "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.

"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 duty of opposition."

Onanuga further said: "President Tinubu and the governing APC cannot be blamed for their (PDP) poor organisation, indiscipline, and gross incompetence in managing their affairs," arguing that it was not part of President Tinubu's job to organise or strengthen opposition parties.

Consequently, the Presidency, he said, "finds 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 continued: "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.

"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. Those opposed to the Tinubu administration should understand that they can issue diatribes, without fear, against the government because we practice democracy.

"It is hypocrisy writ-large when opposition politicians and their collaborators in the 'human rights' movement desire that the party of the President should implode so they can gain electoral advantage and cry wolf when their wish does not materialise.

"We want to state that democracy is not threatened or undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights of association. 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.

Continuing, the statement said: "Under President Tinubu, democracy is strong, and the multiparty democratic system will continue to flourish unhindered. His administration remains resolutely committed to upholding and strengthening the democratic foundations upon which our Fourth Republic has stood since 1999

"Politicians changing party affiliation is not new or peculiar to Nigeria. In more advanced democracies, there are ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed their parties.

"President Tinubu and the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, deserve commendation for making the ruling party viable and attractive to all Nigerians willing to participate in the democratic process.

"President Tinubu is an avowed Democrat and a firm believer in multiparty democracy. His political activism and democratic credentials in galvanising and strengthening opposition platforms as a force that defeated a sitting President and the then ruling party attest to his profound credibility as a tested and relentless defender of multiparty democracy.

"We urge all Nigerians to join hands with the administration in protecting our democracy by respecting their choices and giving a wide berth to peddlers of alarming narratives rooted in fiction," Onanuga said.