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The Presidency on Sunday said the recent defections of politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were of their free will and not coercion from President Bola Tinubu or his allies.
It denied accusations of a one-party state, insisting that democracy is not under threat 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,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement Sunday.
The statement is titled ‘Democracy Strong and Alive in Nigeria.’
Onanuga’s rebuttal follows last Wednesday’s defection, of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, his predecessor Ifeanyi Okowa, Deputy Governor, Monday Onyeme, commissioners, local government chairmen and others.
Okowa was the PDP’s vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
The PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP are currently grappling with internal crises compounded by defections to the APC, which has left their parties in disarray.
Some politicians say the crises are being sponsored to weaken the opposition ahead of 2027, a claim the presidency denies.
“The opposition cannot blame President Tinubu and the governing APC for their poor organisation, indiscipline, and gross incompetence in managing their affairs,” Onanuga said on Sunday.
He added, “While the opposition elements are understandably heartbroken and disillusioned over the failure of their fabled grand coalition to gain traction, we find it disturbing that they resorted to peddling false allegations of the promotion of a one-party state against President Bola Tinubu, who is working very hard to reverse decades of economic mismanagement of our country.
“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.
“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.’”
The Presidency 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 duty of opposition.”
“It is certainly not part of President Tinubu’s job to organise or strengthen opposition parties,” it insisted.
It questioned the moral stance of those who celebrated the defection of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party and the formation of a regional grand coalition with the sole aim of defeating President Tinubu in the 2027 election but are “shedding crocodile tears” over Nigeria’s so-called drift to a one-party state and authoritarianism.
It argued that while the “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 imperiled.
“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,” the President said.
It also described as “a gross disservice to democracy” by its accusers to delegitimise the political choices of some Nigerians while upholding the choices of others to form a coalition against Tinubu and APC.
Onanuga opined that under 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,” he added.
The presidential aide said Tinubu and the APC’s National Working Committee, led by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, deserve commendation for making the governing 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,” the statement concluded.
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