A GROUP comprising 17 Nigerian citizens has accused President Bola Tinubu of inducing opposition members to defect the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that the number one man in Nigeria is planning to create a one-party state.

In a statement on Sunday entitled, ‘Defending Democracy: A Call to Resist the March Toward a One-Party State in Nigeria,’ the group made up of human rights activist, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, and former presidential adviser, Mr Babafemi Ojudu, said that there is a calculated and systematic effort by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “to dismantle the democratic foundations of our republic.”

The group noted that the Tinubu-led administration is employing underhanded tactics to weaken opposition parties. It further alleged that the government is deploying bribery, blackmail and coercion to weaken opposition parties, stressing that political figures are defecting to the ruling party out of fear and pressure.

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“A democracy without opposition is not a democracy. Weaponisation of state institutions for partisan gain corrodes public trust and undermines the integrity of our democracy,” the group stated.

“We are witnessing a disturbing trend where opposition figures are being induced to defect to the ruling party, not out of conviction, but out of fear and pressure, through bribery, blackmail, and coercion,” the group further claimed.

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the immediate past governor of the state, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, recently defected to the APC alongside the government appointees. There are fears that the illegally suspended governor of Rivers State, Mr Sim Fubara, and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Mr Umo Eno, will also defect to the ruling party. Mr Emo recently declared an open support for President Tinubu’s second term, even when he is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The group warned that the absence of a strong opposition could lead to a resurgence of impunity, which would cripple the nation’s democratic values.

“Nigeria risks returning to a culture of impunity, where the absence of robust checks and balances breeds arrogance and unaccountable governance,” the statement read.

The group appealed to President Tinubu to change his administration’s approach and uphold the democratic principles upon which he assumed office, noting that the multi-party system is essential for a healthy democracy.

“We did not fight to end military dictatorship only to enthrone civilian authoritarianism. We must rise now to defend democracy, or risk losing it forever.”

Tinubu’s antecedents and current demeanour

Mr Tinubu had always been regarded as a democrat before he came to power. A Wikipedia report says of Mr Tinubu, “Following the seizure of power as military head of state of General Sani Abacha, Tinubu faced numerous arrests, detentions, harassment, and threats to his life, forcing him to flee Nigeria for safety. Undeterred, he joined NADECO abroad in-exile to continue fighting for democratic governance and the restoration of rule in the country. He went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after Abacha’s death, which ushered in the transition to the Fourth Nigerian Republic.^“

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He dared former President Olusegun Obasanjo as Lagos State governor and remained in a minority party while challenging the then ruling PDP in power.

However, his current demeanour appears to be different, according to political watchers. He illegally removed a democratically-elected governor of Rivers State, Mr Fubara, due to his fight with former Governor Nyesom Wike, who incidentally is Mr Tinubu’s appointed Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“Secondly, he has used a combination of intimidation to woo the opposition to the APC. Which governor would remain in PDP when he has seen what happened to Governor Sim Fubara. A state of emergency can be declared in your state and you are gone,” said a Lagos-based political scientist, Mr Olisa Achebe.

“He also appoints mainly people from his Yoruba tribe into key political offices, forgetting that there are more than 500 nationalities and three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. That is not a democratic credential. Also, he is now more capitalist than democrat, given the way he handled petrol subsidy removal and the foreign exchange market liberalisation. He does not care how the poor ‘breathe’ and has no plan for them now unlike the once-touted Tinubu the democrat,” he added.