President Bola Tinubu yesterday told opposition elements in the country to lick their wounds and stop blaming him for the inability to manage affairs of their parties competently.
He also said politicians changing party affiliation was not new or peculiar to Nigeria, pointing out that in more advanced democracies, there were ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed parties.
He stated further that the accusations that his administration was moving towards authoritarianism were baseless and exaggerated, adding that democracy in the country was not in any way being said to be under threat.
The President, who in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, wondered while the defection of some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, such as the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, should be celebrated, while the defection of some members of the opposition party should be condemned.
The statement, titled “Democracy strong and alive in Nigeria, ignore alarmists,’’ read: “We have read the alarming claims of disgruntled opposition figures, some partisan human rights crusaders and emergency defenders of democracy over recent defections of key members of opposition parties into the governing All Progressives Congress.
“The seismic shift caused by Akwa Ibom governor, Umo Eno’s open declaration of support for President Bola Tinubu, the defection of the Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, the former vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the last election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, and principal political actors in Delta and Rivers states certainly threw the opposition and their sympathisers into disarray.
“While the opposition elements are understandably heartbroken over the failure of their fabled grand coalition to gain traction, we find it disturbing that they resorted to peddling false allegations of promoting a one-party state against President Bola Tinubu, who is working very hard to reverse decades of economic mismanagement in our country.
“Contrary to the false claims in the propaganda materials in circulation across mainstream and social media, democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria. Accusations that the administration is moving towards authoritarianism are baseless and exaggerated.
“We must add that no policy, official action or directive from the Presidency seeks to ‘dismantle democracy’ or ‘weaken opposition or create a one-party state.’
‘’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 role of opposition and are fishing for scapegoats.
‘’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.
“We find it curious that those who celebrated the defection of the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and the formation of a regional grand coalition with the sole aim of defeating President 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.
“While the latter-day defenders of democracy raised no anxious voice against the disgruntled politicians cobbling an anti-Tinubu, anti-APC coalition along dangerous regional lines, even before INEC blows the whistle for party politicking, they are quick to ascribe the political shifts in some states to ‘bribery, blackmail, and coercion’ without any shred of evidence.
“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 imperiled.
“Those opposed to the Tinubu administration should understand that they can issue diatribes without fear, against the government because we practice a thriving democracy.
“It is hypocrisy writ large when opposition politicians and their collaborators in the ‘human rights’ movement desire that the party of the President should implode so they can gain electoral advantage and cry wolf when their wish does not materialise.
“We want to state that democracy is not threatened or undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights to freedom of association.
“Nigerians migrating 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.
“It is a gross disservice to democracy in itself for these emergency defenders of democracy to delegitimise the political choices of some Nigerians while upholding the choices of others to form a coalition against Tinubu and APC.”
