By Mahdi Waziri Isa
Nigeria’s political landscape has been rattled by a wave of high-profile defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), sparking accusations that democracy is under threat. However, the Presidency has dismissed these concerns as “alarmist,” insisting that the opposition’s struggles are not President Bola Tinubu’s problem.
In a Sunday statement, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, hit back at critics, declaring that “democracy is strong and alive in Nigeria.”
“We have read the alarming claims of disgruntled opposition figures, some partisan human rights crusaders, and emergency defenders of democracy,” Onanuga said, referencing recent defections—including those of Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, and former PDP vice-presidential candidate Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. These moves, he noted, have left the opposition “in disarray.”
While acknowledging that opposition parties may be “heartbroken,” the Presidency rejected claims that Tinubu is engineering a one-party state, calling such allegations “false” and “exaggerated.”
“Contrary to the propaganda in circulation, no policy, action, or directive from the Presidency seeks to dismantle democracy or weaken the opposition,” Onanuga stated.
He dismissed accusations of bribery and state intimidation as products of the “idle minds of politicians who have failed in their role as the opposition.”
The statement also took aim at critics who remained silent when former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), only to now “cry wolf without evidence.”
“Freedom of association, freedom of speech, and freedom of choice are cherished ideals of democracy,” Onanuga stressed. “When citizens cannot freely join political parties of their choice, democracy is imperilled.”
He further argued that party-switching is common even in advanced democracies and praised Tinubu and APC Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje for making the ruling party “viable and attractive.”
“President Tinubu is an avowed democrat,” Onanuga said, adding that the opposition’s “poor organisation, indiscipline, and incompetence” should not be blamed on the APC.
Activists Sound Alarm Over Democracy’s Decline
The Presidency’s rebuttal follows a stark warning from a coalition of prominent activists, academics, and politicians, who accused Tinubu’s administration of “undermining political pluralism.”
In a statement titled Defending Democracy: A Call to Resist the March Toward a One-Party State in Nigeria, 17 signatories—including Richard Akinnola, Abdul Mahmud, and Prof. Chidi Odinkalu—raised “grave concern” over what they called a “calculated and systematic effort” to erode democratic institutions.
“We are witnessing, with increasing dismay, a deliberate dismantling of the structures that uphold our democracy,” the group declared.
They specifically accused the government of using anti-graft agencies like the EFCC to pressure opposition figures, arguing that “a democracy without opposition is not a democracy.”
“The drift toward a one-party state is a betrayal,” the statement read. “It is not what we envisioned when we stood in the streets demanding civil rule.”
Despite these concerns, the Presidency urged Nigerians to ignore “alarmists” and support Tinubu’s administration in safeguarding democracy.
“Give alarmists, who draw their narratives from the pool of fiction, a wide berth,” Onanuga concluded.
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