Amid the gale of defections into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu on Thursday rubbished claims that his government plans to make Nigeria a one-party state, declaring that it is not good for the country.
Tinubu said this while addressing a joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja as part of activities lined up to mark the 2025 Democracy Day.
“To those who ring the alarm that the APC is intent on a one-party state,
I offer you a most personal promise. While your alarm may be as a result of
your panic, it rings in error.
“At no time in the past, nor any instance in the present, and at no future juncture shall I view the notion of a one-party state as good for Nigeria. I have never attempted to alter any political party registration with INEC. Equally, my friends, we cannot blame anybody seeking to bail out of a sinking ship even without a life jacket,” he said.
Recalling his rule as an opposition governor while he administered Lagos State between 1999-2007, Tinubu said he has no intention to make Nigeria a one-party state but would not reject members of the opposition who want to join the APC.
President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu pays tribute to his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari for making June 12 Democracy Day. He also acknowledged the ‘central figure’ of the June 12, 1993 election, MKO Abiola as well as those who deserved to be called heroes of… pic.twitter.com/7QRA2nRkw1
— Channels Television (@channelstv) June 12, 2025
“In 2003, when the then-governing party tried to sweep the nation
clean of political opposition through plot and manipulation, I was the last of
the progressive governors standing in my region,” Tinubu added.
But Tinubu said the ruling APC will welcome anyone ready to join the party.
“A one-party state is not in the offing. Nor should it ever be. That said, we would be guilty of political malpractice if we closed the door on those from other parties who now seek to join the APC and I sincerely welcome our party’s newest members from Delta and Akwa Ibom States, led by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Pastor Umo Eno and other members of this National Assembly,” Tinubu said.
