*THE RETURN OF NIGERIA’S ABSENTEE PRESIDENT FROM FRANCE TO ORCHESTRATE THE DECAMPING OF 5 PDP GOVERNORS TO APC IN FURTHERANCE OF THE ONE-PARTY AGENDA* : A Manifest Threat To Nigeria’s Democracy

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

While the Nigerian people groan under the crushing weight of insecurity, hunger, and deepening poverty, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was reportedly on a “working visit” to France. But the truth is now widely known: the President took a French leave not to review policy or chart a new course for the country—as the Presidency would have Nigerians believe—but for personal medical reasons, specifically a stem cell treatment. In addition, he allegedly met with lobbyists in the United States to forestall the impending release of FBI files concerning his alleged past involvement in drug trafficking.

This deceitful detour to Europe and the United States occurred at a time when Nigeria desperately needed leadership. Inflation had soared to 33.69% by March 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Even more alarming, food inflation was nearing an unbearable 42%. Meanwhile, the World Bank recently reported that over 104 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line. In short, Nigeria is a nation in distress, but its president chose medical tourism and image laundering over urgent governance.

President Tinubu’s clandestine return to Nigeria, shrouded in secrecy and executed under the cover of darkness, has only added fuel to the fire. Sources suggest his return was hastened by his failure to convince U.S. authorities to delay or suppress the May 2nd, 2025 release of potentially damning documents. Rather than address the nation’s economic meltdown and worsening insecurity, the President appears singularly focused on deflecting attention from his past.

To this end, two diversionary tactics have been activated:

The orchestration of mass defections of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC);

A suspicious state creation agenda designed to stoke ethnic sentiments and dominate national discourse.

These maneuvers are not just political gimmicks they are strategic tools in a calculated plan to entrench a one-party state in Nigeria. The objective is clear: cripple the opposition, capture the entire political landscape, and monopolize democratic power.

The plan to coerce and induce PDP governors to defect to APC is deeply alarming and unambiguously undemocratic. It threatens the very foundation of Nigeria’s multi-party democracy. If allowed to stand, this maneuver would diminish the integrity of the electoral system and reduce political pluralism to a mere illusion.

This is not the first time Tinubu’s APC has sought to manipulate Nigeria’s democracy to serve its hegemonic interests. In recent months, the 10th National Assembly, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has increasingly functioned as a rubber stamp to the Executive, passing questionable bills with little to no debate. Likewise, the Judiciary, now under the watch of Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun, has often appeared compromised or politically docile.

In this context, the push for PDP governors to cross over to the APC should be seen for what it truly is: a political power grab. These governors were not elected under the APC’s manifesto or ideology. Their defection, under coercion or inducement, would be a betrayal of the mandate given to them by their constituents and a fundamental violation of democratic norms.

Democracy thrives on opposition, debate, and diversity of thought. When a ruling party seeks to eliminate all dissent, it crosses the threshold into authoritarianism. Nigeria has been here before. Under General Sani Abacha, political repression and suppression of opposition voices led to a climate of fear and stagnation. We must never return to that dark chapter in our history.

Ruth Youngland Nelson once warned, _“The slow erosion of democracy does not always come from a bomb or a bullet, but from the steady betrayal of trust, from those who should guard it the most.”_ That is precisely what is at stake today in Nigeria.

*The threat of a one-party state is not theoretical. It has tangible and far-reaching consequences:*

*Loss of Checks and Balances:* In the absence of a viable opposition, power becomes centralized and unaccountable. The executive begins to act with impunity, and the institutions that should hold it in check become ineffective or co-opted.

*Suppression of Dissent:* A one-party state breeds fear. Citizens and civil society groups lose their voice. Media outlets are intimidated into silence. Human rights abuses increase as the state operates unchecked.

*Erosion of Civil Liberties:* Freedoms of speech, assembly, and association are often the first casualties in such a system. With no opposition to challenge draconian policies, citizens are left vulnerable to arbitrary arrests and legal persecution.

*Economic Stagnation:* Political monopolies often result in policy complacency. Innovation is stifled, merit is replaced with cronyism, and critical reforms are shelved in favor of patronage politics. With youth unemployment already above 53%, this spells disaster for national development.

*Let it be clearly stated:* the idea of state creation at this critical juncture is a red herring. It is a deliberate attempt to ignite ethnic and regional sentiments to distract the public from the administration’s catastrophic failures. Nigeria’s problem is not the number of states, it is the absence of visionary leadership, sound economic policy, and adherence to democratic principles.

Moreover, a political culture where politicians are more loyal to the ruling party than to their constituents is dangerous. It creates an elite cartel of power brokers disconnected from the people. As history has shown, when democracy is hollowed out in this manner, what follows is a government by coercion and fear rather than by consent and justice.

Joseph Chilton Pearce encapsulated the peril succinctly: _“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. But when leadership criminalizes dissent, creativity dies, and conformity becomes the law.”_ This is the warning Nigeria must heed today.

In light of these developments, it is imperative that every Nigerian rise up to defend our democracy. The media, civil society, religious and traditional institutions, and the international community must shine a light on these schemes and demand accountability. Silence is complicity.

We must resist this descent into a political monoculture. The defection of PDP governors under duress is not just an internal party matter; it is a national crisis. The Tinubu administration must be reminded that Nigeria is a democracy, not a personal estate. The future of our children depends on the choices we make today.

Nigeria needs reform, not regression. It needs unity, not uniformity. The people deserve a government that works for them, not one that works solely to protect the interests of a single individual or political party.

If this descent into a one-party dictatorship continues, Nigeria’s democracy, hard-earned and deeply cherished, may become a relic of the past. It is time to speak out. It is time to act.

Sylvester is a political analyst, he writes from South Africa