We have no plan to make Nigeria a one-party state – APC spokesman

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has dismissed growing concerns that Nigeria’s ruling party is working to turn the country into a one-party state.

Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday, Morka insisted that the increasing number of defections from opposition parties into the APC is not a deliberate strategy to eliminate political pluralism in the country.

He said: “There’s nothing wrong with PDP and Labour Party members defecting to the APC if they desire to identify with the ruling party’s processes.

“Many of these people are coming in and saying, we want to be part of the process. We want to identify with that process. That does not mean that we desire for Nigeria to then become a one-party system.”

Morka pointed to the era of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which held power from 1999 to 2015, as an example of a dominant party without accusations of enforcing a one-party rule.

“When the PDP was in power, they controlled over 28 states, and nobody said they were trying to make Nigeria a one-party state,” he added.

In recent months, the APC has seen an influx of high-profile defectors from the PDP, Labour Party, and other opposition groups.

This trend has raised alarm among civil society actors and opposition figures who worry that democratic competition is being undermined.

Morka stated that any move toward a one-party state would be constitutionally impossible.

His words: “Our country, both in the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and a plethora of other laws, has embedded systems that unmistakably make Nigeria a multi-party and pluralist society.

“To go against the force of the Constitution to create a one-party system would require a constitutional amendment — something nearly impossible to achieve.”

Morka reiterated that the APC is focused not on eliminating opposition but on self-preservation and governance.

He said: “We’re not concerned with wiping out the opposition. Our concern is how to continue to protect ourselves, govern effectively, and maintain the confidence of the Nigerian people.”

He argued that the defections are a sign of the APC’s attractiveness and strength, rather than a coordinated campaign to absorb all political rivals.