There are fears that the country is gradually moving towards one-party state considering the recent defections of high-profile politicians from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Many Nigerians believe that the creeping one-party state will lead to full-blown dictatorship if the drift is not quickly checked. Prominent Nigerians, including Constitutional lawyers, human rights activist, the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, have joined other eminent Nigerians to decry our gradual movement to a one-party state and its dire consequences.

Defections have also been recorded at the state level and National Assembly, where the movement has increased the APC numerical strength considerably. The defections from opposition parties in the National Assembly have increased the membership of the APC to 68 in the Senate and about 207 in the House of Representatives. The tally will increase with more likely defections.

Democracy thrives in an atmosphere of a multi-party system. Democracy without opposition is not healthy and may likely not endure. It will definitely lead to totalitarianism. The opposition offers constructive criticisms that keep the ruling party on its toes. In fact, the ruling party needs the criticisms from the opposition to govern well. When the opposition is referred to as government-in-waiting, it is because of its important role in offering the alternative option in the democratic process. The opposition offers the alternative voice on how the system should work. In the Western world, the leading opposition political party, forms shadow-government which analyses actions and programmes of the party in power and offers alternative direction. Nigeria needs a strong and robust opposition to keep the system working optimally.

The opposition political parties should unite and speak with one voice. Let the politicians play politics of conviction and abide by ideologies and principles. Jumping from one party to another on flimsy excuses is inimical to the growth of democracy in the country. It is good that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dismissed the possibility of Nigeria becoming a one-party state, arguing rightly that such an agenda is a threat to democracy and the nation’s political heritage. We urge him to walk the talk. He should avoid actions that give impressions that he is coercing or cajoling members of the opposition to cross over to APC.
Democracy thrives in an atmosphere of plurality of views.

BY

OLADIMEJI A. OYETAYO
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS,
SUCCESS 105.3 FM,
IBADAN.