Nigeria’s Slide To One-Party Dictatorship Imminent – Atiku Warns
- Tasks opposition parties on merger option
- Demands formidable fronts to defend democracy
- Slams INEC for conducting worst-ever general election
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Nigeria’s Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned that the country is fast sliding into a one-party state if the opposition parties’ members continue to wallow in self-aggrandisement and uncontrolled lust for political patronage.
He has therefore charged opposition political parties to embrace the merger option towards presenting a formidable front that would save and preserve the nation’s democracy ahead of the next general elections in 2027.
Addressing the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Inter-Party Advisory Council Nigeria (IPAC) led by its National Chairman, Yabagi Sani who visited him on Tuesday, Atiku said; “The project of protecting democracy in our country is not about just one man. You have come here today to say that we should cooperate to promote democracy.
A statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, quoted the former Vice President as saying; “But the truth of the matter is that our democracy is fast becoming a one-party system; and, of course, you know that when we have a one-party system, we should just forget about democracy.”
In tasking the IPAC leadership on the need for opposition parties to forge a common and more formidable front that will salvage Nigeria’s democracy from sliding into a one-party state, the Wazirin Adamawa said; “We have all seen how the APC is increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party. If we don’t come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer for it, and the consequences of it will affect the generations yet unborn”.
Also criticising the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the worst ever general election in the country, the former Vice President said; “The Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the worst general election in the country.”
He said the recently conducted off-season election in three states of Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi saw INEC doubling down on its disregard for the tenets of our democracy, adding; “We all can see how INEC declared a result in Kogi State where the total number of votes cast is higher than the total number of accredited voters in one local government.
“We cannot have a healthy democracy in an environment where all INEC does is to deliver the ruling party at all costs. That is also why I will urge you all, to appeal to lawmakers of the various opposition parties in the National Assembly to sponsor legislation that will advance the course of the constitutional and electoral reforms agenda that I shared in my recent press conference.”
Atiku further argued that; “The issue of electronic voting must be the urgent priority of the National Assembly because countries that are far less advanced than Nigeria are already doing it”, adding; “Until our elections pass the test of transparency through electronic voting, it will be difficult for INEC to regain its credibility, and our democracy will be the first casualty of such a situation”.
In his remarks, the IPAC Chairman, Yabagi Sani, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, said the visit to Atiku was in acknowledgment of his commitment as a true democrat and a political leader who treads the path of detribalization and politics without violence.
According to Yabagi, despite the glaring shortcomings associated with our elections, democracy remains the best form of government, even as he noted that the former Vice President is the “issue of the democracy in Nigeria”
Noting that “the journey has just begun for Atiku”, the IPAC Leader said the group was ever ready and available to support any collaboration and project aimed at moving Nigeria forward as a thriving and prosperous democracy among the comity of nations.
