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• PDP, SDP chairmen, LP tackle APC chair
The one-party state controversy, which arose after a spate of defections into the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the tsunami in Delta State, deepened at the weekend.
Many commentators and opposition figures have accused the APC of plotting a one-party state by wooing and winning over opposition political office holders – governors, federal and state lawmakers.
But the APC has consistently said those joining it are doing so willingly, having been attracted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s performance and plans for the country.
The APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, chided those accusing the ruling party of plotting to push the country into a one-party system.
Ganduje, a former Kano State governor, said: “A one-party state is not by force. It’s by negotiation. It’s because other political parties see the effect of the positive governance of our party.
“If they decide to come to our party, willingly, I think there is nothing wrong with that.
“Today, democratic China is one of the strongest countries in the world, and it’s a one-party system.
“We are not saying we are working for a one-party system, but if this is the wish of Nigerians, we cannot quarrel with that.
“You know they say too many cooks spoil the soup, too many political parties spoil governance.”
Ganduje spoke at Aso Villa when he led the three Kebbi State senators – Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), and Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South) – all elected on the PDP platform, to meet with President Tinubu for final negotiation ahead of their defection this week to the ruling party.
But PDP National Chairman Umar Ilya Damagum and National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shehu Musa Gabam lashed out at Ganduje on his position.
Damgum described the idea of a single-party state as “madness”.
He said: “One-party system can only happen somewhere else, not in this country.
“Recall what history says about anybody wishing for a one-party state. Where will such people end?”
Gabam said: “The PDP, the party in power before the emergence of APC, passed through that route some time ago, deluding themselves that they would be in control of levers of power forever, but that fell on their faces.
“It is Nigerians who are in the best position to tell if their lives have changed for the better or that they have been impacted positively under the APC.
“The motivation of the ongoing gale of defections, particularly by some governors and elected political office holders, is not altruistic.
“It is self-serving and undeniably done for self-preservation.
“Nigerians are in agreement that the power of choice through democratic options that multi-party democracy offers is one that cannot and should not be compromised.
“A one-party system breeds authoritarian rule and erodes the freedom of the electorate.
“It is not debatable that Nigeria needs a strong opposition for democratic consolidation.”
Gabam spoke through the National Publicity Secretary of SDP, Rufus Aiyenigba.
The Labour Party, which criticised the ruling class for being selfish, said self-interest is behind defections to the ruling party.
Publicity Secretary of the Julius Abure faction, Obiora Ifoh, who spoke on behalf of the party, said Nigerians would not support a one-party state.
He said: “One-party system is undemocratic and it breeds tyranny. Nigerians will not be pushed into that political system.
“However, it must be said that many political parties are in crisis today because some leaders of those parties are not willing to subject themselves to party supremacy.
“As such, political office holders use the inherent confusion in these parties to jump over to the ruling party, hoping to have easy access to political relevance and the cover provided by the ruling party.
“Is it not absurd that a governor of an opposition party cannot even critique constructively or even appraise the ruling party in the face of the myriad economic challenges in the country today?
“Or how do you explain how another opposition governor, barely two years into a government, is now campaigning for a president from another party against his own party?
“The political class is so selfish that what counts for them is survival first, and they can do everything to ensure that they hold onto power, including betraying the party that sponsored them to the office.”
[TheNation]