Nigeria won’t be one-party state — Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dismissed the possibility of Nigeria becoming a one-party state, describing it as a threat to democracy and the nation’s political heritage.

Tinubu stated this during his Democracy Day address at a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

The President recounted his experience during the 2003 general elections, when the then-ruling party launched a sweeping campaign to eliminate political opposition through what he described as “plot and manipulation.”

Tinubu said, “To those who ring the alarm that the APC is intent on a one-party state, I offer you a most personal promise. While your alarm may be as a result of your panic, it rings in error. At no time in the past, nor any instance in the present, and at no future juncture shall I view the notion of a one-party state as good for Nigeria. 

“I have never attempted to alter any political party registration with INEC. Equally, my friends, we cannot blame anybody seeking to bail out of a sinking ship even without a life jacket.

“Look at my political history. I would be the last person to advocate such a scheme. In 2003, when the then-governing party tried to sweep the nation clean of political opposition through plot and manipulation, I was the last of the progressive governors standing in my region.

“In all their numbers and false grandeur, they boasted of ruling, not governing, Nigeria for the next half century or more. Where are they now?

“Yet, I stood alone. My allies had been induced into defeat. My adversaries held all the cards that mortal man could carry. Even with all of that, they could not control our national destiny because fate is written from above. A greater power did not want Nigeria to become a one-party state back then. Nigeria will not become such a state now.

“The failed effort to create a one-party state placed progressive political forces on a trajectory to form the APC. It put me on the trajectory that has brought me before you today. I dare not do such a favour to any political adversary by repeating the same mistake of political overreach.

“A one-party state is not in the offing. Nor should it ever be. That said, we would be guilty of political malpractice if we closed the door on those from other parties who now seek to join the APC and I sincerely welcome our party’s newest members from Delta and Akwa Ibom States led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Pastor Umo Eno and other members of this National Assembly.”

Despite intense political pressure and a systematic effort to co-opt or defeat opposition leaders, saying, “My allies had been induced into defeat. My adversaries held every advantage a mortal man could possess. But they could not determine my destiny, or that of the nation, because fate is written by a higher power.”

Tinubu emphasised that Nigeria was divinely spared from becoming a one-party state then and warned that any such attempt now would equally fail.

“Nigeria will never be a one-party state. A one-party state is not a government, and it shall never be,” he declared.

Reflecting on the aftermath of that political period, he credited the failed one-party experiment as the catalyst that led to the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition that brought progressive forces together in a new political movement.

He said, “This trajectory has brought me before you today. But let me be clear: I will never support any scheme that suppresses democratic competition or imposes political advancement undemocratically, even for someone like Iwebo.”

While affirming the APC’s commitment to democratic principles, he also stressed the importance of openness.

“We would be guilty of political malpractice if we closed our doors to members of other parties who now seek to join the APC in good faith,” he stated.

Tinubu, therefore, urged opposition parties not to be fearful of a one-party state or losing members but to ensure they are organised and put “their house in order.”

He said, “Political parties fearful of members leaving may be better served by examining their internal processes and affairs rather than fearfully conjuring up demons that do not exist. For me, I would say try your best to put your house in order. I will not help you do so. It is, indeed, a pleasure to witness you in such disarray.

“We must welcome and accept the diversity and number of political parties just as we welcome and embrace the diversity of our population. Our efforts must never be to eliminate political competition but to make that competition salutary to the national well-being by working across the political aisle whenever possible.”

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