Forget One-party System Now, Tackle Poverty, SANs, Scholars Tell Politicians

Instead of dissipating energy on how to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, politicians have been told to focus attention on arresting the worsening poverty among Nigerians.

They were also advised to put their energy into containing the security challenges and other problems confronting the country.

These admonitions came from senior lawyers and political scholars who weighed in on the concern about Nigeria becoming a one-party state, noting that as much as it’s not illegal, such a scenario was not feasible.

They argued that the peculiarities and nature of our political class will make a one-party system untenable, adding that the Constitution guarantees freedom of association.

In exclusive interviews with LEADERSHIP Sunday, they, however, expressed concern about the quality of politics in Nigeria, adding that idealism, which ought to drive the political system, is dead.

They blamed the leadership of the National Assembly for condoning the level of defections witnessed at the legislature.

Leaders of opposition parties in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) had accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of causing rifts within their folds in order to make Nigeria a one-party state.

This accusation followed mass defections from opposition parties into the ruling APC, largely on the grounds of internal rifts in their previous platforms.

Some media reports indicate that no fewer than 300 opposition figures had dumped the PDP and other platforms for the APC since 2023.

While most of the political migrations have taken place in the federal and state legislature, the collapse of PDP structures into APC in Delta State, led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, is the highest profile defection yet.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno is expected to join the APC soon, and speculations of more high-profile defections to the ruling party are rife.

However, the APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje’s recent favourable disposition to a one-party state arrangement has earned him some criticism.

President Bola Tinubu, at a recent party event, said one party system was not suitable for a democracy; but in another breath he said more defectors were welcome to the ruling party, arguing that the freedom of association was guaranteed in the constitution.
Nigeria currently runs a multi-party system with 18 registered political parties.

One-Party State Legal But Difficult To Achieve – SANs, Others

Prominent Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Dr. Ahmed Raji, has said the possibility of Nigeria becoming a one-party state is not illegal but may be difficult to achieve.

Raji and other lawyers, who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday, said freedom of association for every citizen is guaranteed in the Constitution.

According to them, it is highly welcome if a one-party state brings development to the country.
Raji explained that if someone does not find anything attractive at a party, he is free to move to another one.

He said, “The freedom of association is a key fundamental right recognised under the 1999 constitution. If it is the desire of all Nigerians to be in one party in exercise of their right to associate, so be it.

“It is legal, and in cases where there is only one candidate contesting for a position, the constitution has prescribed a required threshold. Therefore, the scenario is legal and within the contemplation of the Constitution. But is it feasible in our circumstances?

“It may be a bit difficult to achieve in a country like ours having regards to her peculiarities and nature of our political class.

“People have the freedom of association. They can move to another party, if they don’t have anything attractive in other parties.

“The 1999 Constitution already anticipated it. Where you have one candidate, there is a number of votes you must get to be declared winner. It is within the right of the people to associate with any political party of their choice.”

Another senior advocate, Abdul Balogun, who agreed with Raji that Nigeria’s becoming a one-party state may be difficult to achieve, said the political elite should focus on addressing the abject poverty in the land.

“We can’t be talking about the country becoming a one-party state because there is no strong and credible opposition in place.

“Nigerians are crying and dying of hunger, the politicians are not bothered because all they care about is the country becoming a one-party state.”

Similarly, another lawyer, Barrister Oghenovo Otemu, said a one-party state is welcome if it brings about development in the country.

While he noted that defections by politicians do not make the country a one-party state, he said, “Nigeria is not practising a one-party state and even if we are practising a one-party state, it’s not a big deal. China is a one-party state.

“There are people who are in APC who are defecting to other parties. There are people who are in PDP who are also defecting to other parties, so the country is not being turned into a one-party state.”

He blamed Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tajudeen Abbas and the leaderships of state assemblies for allowing defected lawmakers to remain in the National Assembly.

He said it was the duty of the leadership of federal and state assemblies to declare the seats of defected lawmakers vacant to fast-track the cases against the defectors in court.

“The way the law is couched, when a lawmaker defects, it is the duty of the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Speaker, State House of Assembly to declare the seats of such lawmakers vacant.

“Most of the defections are being made to the political party of the presiding officers responsible for declaring the seats vacant.

“If I’m defecting to your side in the National Assembly, for example, I don’t expect you to declare my seat vacant. It will not be politically correct to do so for the presiding officers.”

One-party State Would Require Legislation – Saliu

Meanwhile, the president of the Nigeria Political Scientists Association (NPSA), Prof. Hassan Saliu, has allayed the fear of Nigerians about the country drifting into a one-party state.
He said that a one-party state is a legal attainment, noting that there is no law in place yet to say every Nigerian should belong to the APC.

“If you recall in the past, when we had one-party state in Tanzania and all these places, they came through the legal process. And now there is no law before the National Assembly to say everybody must be in APC. But rather, we are seeing a tendency where one party is increasingly becoming dominant,” Saliu added.

Saliu said the politicians were defecting mainly for personal gains.

“The idealism behind politics, which is for development, is no longer fashionable in Nigeria. Every politician you see looks at his pocket. So, and since every business you put your money into, you expect some profits, therefore politicians keep on dancing around in order to satisfy their personal gain. There is no ideology propelling political activity in Nigeria.

Is there any difference between APC and PDP, or any difference between Labour Party and SDP? In terms of ideology, they seem to look alike.

“I was just reading a post where a member was saying that under the Second Republic, people knew what UPN stood for: free education and free health. NPN stood for housing for all and stuff like that. But now we don’t seem to have any of such tendencies. What you see is that a man can become a PDP man in the evening but tomorrow morning he’s in APC. There is no conversion process,” he said.

Nigeria too sophisticated for one-party rule – Pearse

Former lecturer at the University of Lagos and renowned public affairs analyst Dr Adetokunbo Pearse has described Nigeria’s political system as too sophisticated and dynamic for a one-party system.

The political scientist told LEADERSHIP Sunday that, ‘’All the pronouncements and the shenanigans and the tricks being played by President Bola Tinubu is intended to lead to one-party state; that is what he wants. However, the PDP is a formidable political party[L1] ; that it is not equal to APC does not mean the party is not strong.

‘’If you look at the National Assembly spread, the party has about 40 per cent and APC has about 58 per cent. In the House of Reps where APC has about 198 members, PDP has 108 members; unfortunately, Labour party has only 28 members and New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has one or two members, that is why people think APC is so dominant.”

He said while APC is a strong political party right now, PDP is a very close second and Labour Party a distant third.

Pearse added that while PDP governors and elected members are joining APC, its members are not.

He cited a recent video where former Delta State governor, Senator Patrick Okowa, was booed by his people for joining the APC.

‘’They told Okowa they were not going with him, and they are going to stay in the PDP, and told him if he wants to join APC he should go alone. Some governors and individuals are going to APC, it does not mean members of the PDP are going into APC, let’s get that straight.”

He further said the coalition will also cause defections into their fold when they evolve into a political party.

‘’We can never have a one-party system; this is a very dynamic country, with a lot of people, a lot of contacts, nationally, internationally, a lot of intelligentsia. 2027 is a different ball game.”

He noted that a one-party system will lead to outright dictatorship and “a monopoly, where you don’t have a voice to voice your opinion.”

‘’In every direction it kills the country, that is why we don’t want it. Don’t forget this is a multi-ethnic, multi religious, multi-cultural nation of people. For us to have one party, it is going to lead to disaster,” he said.

One-party system fear not real – Dr Tavershima

Weighing in on the subject, a lecturer in the department of political science, Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, Dr Terna Vincent Tavershima, has stated that the fear of one-party rule is not real.

He said it’s a creation of people who are not comfortable with the movement of political stalwarts from their parties to the major parties.

“We practise a multi-party system in this country and the constitution guarantees everybody the freedom of association and freedom of expression. To that extent, people are allowed to pitch tents with political parties that they feel will guarantee their interests at a material time. The fear of a one-party state is not tenable in Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, for a one-party rule to manifest, it has to be the only registered party like in China, where only one party was formally registered and recognised by the law of a country.

“What people are doing now is defecting to the APC to secure a second term in office, in the case of the governors, senators and House of Representatives members, who feel threatened that they might not get the ticket of their political parties that are housing them for now.”

Ruling party should brace for challenges – Dr Okeke

A political science lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Dr Christian Okeke, also agreed that a one-party state is not feasible in such a complex and heterogeneous entity as Nigeria.

He, however, said there is nothing extraordinary in the present polity that the country has not passed through before.

“My belief is that the next general election will be shaped ultimately and remarkably by several factors that will give the ruling party some sleepless nights regardless of any mass exodus into it.

“To that extent, the goodwill it seems to be enjoying at the moment is something that it should not rejoice over but reflect upon.”

He nonetheless said the most important factor needed in deciding who wins or loses in 2027 is the electoral commission’s neutrality.

“The National Assembly must step in with stringent laws that criminalise electoral offences and guarantee the desired future for our elections. The commission must be forced to become a credible umpire,” Okeke said.

2027 politics has killed governance – Dr Garuba

Political scientist, Dr Dauda Garuba, considers the mass defections as the beginning of some of the dynamics towards the 2027 general election.

Garuba, who is also the director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD, West Africa), however said he was concerned that the politics of 2027 started too early and had relegated governance to the background.

“For me, this is the very earliest time since the return of democracy that people started talking of a second term just after one year. Even as I talk, it’s not up to two years of the present administration. I am worried about it due to the fact that governance is not on the table anymore, let alone the citizens in whose interest governance should work,” he said.

Saraki’s reconciliation team races to halt PDP’s bleeding

Meanwhile, the reconciliation committee led by former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki is racing against time to stop the haemorrhaging of PDP members. This comes as the party prepares for the much anticipated National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Tuesday.

Saraki team met with Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah on Friday.

The Saraki committee was set up at an expanded meeting of PDP governors, their predecessors, and the party leadership to reconcile clashing interests over the national secretary position so that the party’s much-elusive National Executive Committee (NEC) could hold next Tuesday.

The deputy national secretary, Setonji was asked to act as national secretary, pending the resolution of the matter.

The South East zone had threatened to dump the party if its nominee for the contentious national secretary position was not accepted by the party.

The threat followed insinuations that the Saraki committee had backed the return of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as PDP national secretary, while he was rejected by the PDP leaders in the South East.

Last week, the PDP South East caucus resubmitted Hon Sunday Ude-Okoye’s name for the position, which was zoned to the region.

It was learnt that Saraki’s visit to Governor Mbah was to assuage the concern of South East leaders that the committee had already taken a position which favours Anyanwu’s return.

However, a party source confided in LEADERSHIP Sunday that the intervention of Saraki’s team “might be instrumental to the holding of NEC but not ultimately resolving the large crisis of confidence within the party which revolves around zoning, the next leadership of party, and the expulsion of anti-party elements within its fold.”

Meanwhile, Anyanwu, who enjoys the backing of a bloc loyal to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, has insisted he remains the PDP national secretary.

LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that some of his supporters are gearing up to storm the NEC meeting venue, Wadata Plaza, to protest for Anyanwu to be recognised as national secretary.

I’m Not APC Proxy – Damagum

Meanwhile, the acting national chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, has dismissed allegations that he is an APC stooge.

Earlier in the year, critics alleged that Damagum secretly met with President Tinubu in London, framing a spin that he failed to address the internal crisis within PDP, which led to its weakened state as a leading opposition ahead of 2027.

But in an interview with BBC Hausa Service aired on Saturday and monitored by our correspondent in Bauchi, Damagum said, “I will never forgive those accusing me of working for APC. I never held a meeting with President Tinubu.”

He emphasised his unflinching loyalty and commitment to the PDP.

“I joined PDP in 1999. I have never defected to any political party since then. If I want to join the APC, I would have done that during Buhari’s tenure but I didn’t,” he insisted.

Commenting on the allegation that his close cordial relationship with FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, reflects his incompetence to lead the party, Damagum said, “They know and have interacted with Wike before I do.”

“My only crime is that I refused to allow his opponents within the party to antagonise him.”

The acting national chairman expressed concern over the rate of defection from the PDP, insisting that the party leadership is working to mend the divisions within its ranks and halt more members from dumping the party.