A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC in Abia State Prince Paul Ikonne, has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is plotting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, describing such allegations as baseless, self-serving, and borne out of political frustration.
Speaking in a television programme on TVC on the topic “Political Realignment: Defections Raise Fear of One-Party System,” Ikonne said the growing narrative by some opposition leaders that the current administration is undermining multiparty democracy does not align with political reality or Nigeria’s democratic history.
Prince Ikonne noted that the current wave of defections into the APC should not be misconstrued as coercion or a grand conspiracy, but rather understood as the natural outcome of years of strategic political work, foresight, and inclusive coalition-building championed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He recalled that the APC itself was a product of deliberate planning and sacrifice, dating back to the historic merger talks between the ACN, CPC, and other political blocs, a process driven by Tinubu’s belief in broad-based political cooperation.
According to Ikonne, politicians who are defecting today are doing so voluntarily, motivated by their assessment of Nigeria’s political future and the performance trajectory of the Tinubu administration.
He argued that many of them have come to terms with the reality that their former parties no longer reflect the aspirations of Nigerians, adding that remaining in such platforms would amount to political stagnation and eventual irrelevance.
He brushed off the alarm raised by opposition figures as the lamentations of politicians who have found themselves outpaced by events and disconnected from the mood of the nation, stressing that performance, vision, and political organization not intimidation are what attract people to a party.
Prince Ikonne who was the former Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), further downplayed the fear of a one-party system, insisting that neither the APC nor President Tinubu harbours such an agenda.
He reaffirmed that Nigeria has always been, and remains, a multi-party democracy, a fact clearly demonstrated in recent elections, including the Anambra polls where over thirty political parties participated freely without hindrance.
Reacting to the activities of opposition leaders forming coalitions, particularly Senator Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, Ikonne described the senator as an “attention-seeking politician out of touch with current national realities”.
He questioned the moral authority of a lawmaker who has been in the Senate since 2007, yet struggles to point to landmark legislative or developmental achievements that have significantly impacted his constituents or the nation.
Ikonne wondered aloud whether Nigerians should entrust the future of the country to political figures whose long years in office have yielded little substance, merely because they have repackaged themselves under the banner of a so-called coalition aimed at removing President Tinubu.
He concluded by stating that democracy thrives on choice, performance, and credibility, not on fear-mongering or manufactured narratives.
According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration should be judged by its policies, reforms, and direction, while political parties must earn relevance through ideas and results not by crying wolf when the political tide turns against them.