The Presidency has debunked allegations that President Bola Tinubu is promoting one-party system in Nigeria.
There have recently been allegations of the promotion of a one-party state against Tinubu, following the defection of key members of opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor and vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, and the PDP leaders in Delta State dumped the party for the APC.
Speaking on the reactions that trailed the politicians’ defection to the APC, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued on Sunday, April 27, 2025, said accusations that the Tinubu administration is moving towards authoritarianism are “baseless and exaggerated”.
Onanuga stressed that democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria, noting that no policy, official action, or directive from the Presidency seeks to “dismantle democracy or weaken opposition or create a one-party state.”
Onanuga stated: “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.
“The opposition cannot blame President Tinubu and the governing APC for their poor organisation, indiscipline, and gross incompetence in managing their affairs. It is certainly not part of President Tinubu’s job to organise or strengthen opposition parties.”
The presidential spokesman said those who celebrated the defection of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the formation of a coalition to unseat 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.”
Omo-Agege welcomes Oborevwori to APC, urges support for governor
He added: “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.
“We want to state that democracy is not threatened or undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights of association.”
Onanuga said Nigerians defecting 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.”
Onanuga noted: “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.”
The presidential spokesman, therefore, urged Nigerians to join hands with the administration in protecting the nation’s democracy by “respecting their choices and giving a wide berth to peddlers of alarming narratives rooted in fiction.”
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