The Presidency has dismissed allegations that democracy is under threat in Nigeria following recent high-profile defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the claims as baseless and politically motivated.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said democracy in Nigeria remains “strong and alive” under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
Onanuga was responding to criticisms from opposition figures, human rights activists, and civil society groups who accused the Tinubu administration of undermining the country’s multiparty system following the defections of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and other key political actors from opposition parties to the APC.
He said the opposition’s claims of a drift towards authoritarianism and a one-party state are “false, exaggerated, and rooted in fiction,” adding that the defections were a product of free political choice, not coercion.
“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 duty of opposition,” the statement said. “Democracy is not undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights of association.”
The Presidency also criticised what it described as the hypocrisy of opposition groups who celebrated the defection of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but now cry foul over defections to the APC.
Onanuga stressed that President Tinubu, a veteran of Nigeria’s democratic struggles, remains committed to a robust multiparty democracy and has no intention of weakening the opposition.
He praised the APC’s leadership under Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje for making the party “viable and attractive” to Nigerians, asserting that the political shifts demonstrate confidence in Tinubu’s reforms aimed at reversing decades of economic mismanagement.
“Politicians changing party affiliation is not new or peculiar to Nigeria. In more advanced democracies, there are examples of notable politicians who changed their parties,” he added.
The Presidency urged Nigerians to ignore what it called “alarming narratives” and to continue supporting efforts to strengthen the country’s democratic institutions.
