One-Party Dictatorship’: PDP, NNPP, CUPP Slam Tinubu Over Mass Defections

Nigeria’s main opposition parties have accused President Bola Tinubu of using state power, public funds, and anti-graft agencies to pressure their members into defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Spokespersons for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) said the APC was “on the verge of implosion” despite the recent wave of high-profile defections to its ranks.

The opposition figures alleged that the ruling party was resorting to intimidation and inducement to weaken rival groups and consolidate its grip on power. But the APC swiftly dismissed the allegations, insisting that the defections were voluntary and inspired by President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda.

PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, accused the Tinubu administration of coercing opposition figures with threats and incentives to join the ruling party. He said the APC was “jittery” and using state resources to force defections, warning that the party would soon collapse under its own weight. Ologunagba maintained that the PDP remained the only true democratic party in Nigeria with structures across every state and community, adding that Nigerians would eventually “see through the charade” and return to the PDP before 2027.

NNPP spokesman Oladipo Johnson described the defections as dangerous to Nigeria’s democracy. He said the blurring of lines between the executive, legislature, and even the judiciary posed a threat to plural politics, warning that the country risked sliding toward a one-party state. Johnson compared the situation to the PDP’s era of dominance, noting that when the party was in power for 16 years, politicians rushed in, only for it to implode later. He predicted the same fate for the APC, saying Nigerian politicians were largely driven by self-interest rather than ideology. “Even if only one party exists, it will still split into factions because Nigerian politicians are driven by personal ambition, not conviction,” he said.

CUPP spokesman Mark Adebayo accused the President and the APC of plotting to establish a one-party dictatorship. He described the wave of defections as a deliberate and strategic effort to weaken the opposition and dominate the political space. Adebayo said the trend was shameful, undemocratic, and a grave threat to Nigeria’s political stability. He claimed that most Nigerian politicians lacked ideology or principle, adding that their loyalty lay only with power. “If another party wins tomorrow, the same politicians will switch sides overnight. Their only motivation is proximity to power,” he said.

However, the APC’s Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, rejected the accusations, describing them as baseless. He said no one was being coerced to join the party and that the recent influx of politicians was driven by confidence in President Tinubu’s leadership and achievements. Ibrahim insisted the APC was well-structured, stable, and capable of managing its internal affairs, unlike the opposition. “The fact that they can’t manage their parties doesn’t mean we can’t manage ours,” he said confidently.