President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has denied complicity in the spate of defections that have hit some opposition parties in the country, saying he’s not to blame for it, noting that it’s not his job to meddle in the affairs of the opposing parties.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special adviser to the President on Publicity and Strategy made this known in a statement on Sunday amidst the gale of recent defections among key opposition parties in the country.
The most recent defections affected the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta state where the governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, his predecessor Ifeanyi Okowa, the 2023 PDP Vice Presidential Candidate and other key party leaders defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Not a few including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar however insisted that some of the defectors were forced to do so, for instance, some critics of the administration claimed that former Governor Okowa, who is current battling a multi-billion corruption case with the anti-graft agency, EFCC did so to get a soft landing from the administration.
This is not true, according to Onanuga who said people are free to move from one party to the other, as they are permitted by the law to express their freedom of “association”.
The presidential spokesman noted that opposition parties are blaming their predicament on President Tinubu instead of settling their internal crisis. Tinubu can only be responsible for the APC that he belongs, what happened in other parties is not his business.
He said, “The opposition cannot blame President Tinubu and the governing APC for their poor organisation, indiscipline, and gross incompetence in managing their affairs. It is certainly not part of President Tinubu’s job to organise or strengthen opposition parties.
“We find it curious that those who celebrated the defection of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the formation of a regional grand coalition with the sole aim of defeating President Tinubu in the 2027 election are the same people shedding crocodile tears over Nigeria’s so-called drift to a one-party state and authoritarianism.
“While the latter-day defenders of democracy raised no anxious voice against the disgruntled politicians cobbling an anti-Tinubu, anti-APC coalition along dangerous regional lines, even before INEC blows the whistle for party politicking, they are quick to ascribe the political shifts in some states to “bribery, blackmail, and coercion” without any shred of evidence.
“Without any equivocation, freedom of association, freedom of speech and freedom of choice are part of the cherished ideals of democracy. When politicians and citizens cannot freely join any association or political party of their choice or cannot openly express their views, democracy is imperilled.”
He said the opposition is only unhappy that despite all their attack on Tinubu his administration has continued to thrive, adding that democracy is really at work in the country.
He explained that as an astute democrat, President Tinubu will continue to defend the country’s democracy based on his oath of office.
Onanuga: “Those opposed to the Tinubu administration should understand that they can issue diatribes, without fear, against the government because we practice a thriving democracy.
“It is hypocrisy writ large when opposition politicians and their collaborators in the ‘human rights’ movement desire that the party of the President should implode so they can gain electoral advantage and cry wolf when their wish does not materialise.
“We want to state that democracy is not threatened or undermined simply because politicians exercise their rights to freedom of association.
“His administration remains resolutely committed to upholding and strengthening the democratic foundations upon which our Fourth Republic has stood since 1999. Politicians changing party affiliation is not new or peculiar to Nigeria.
“In more advanced democracies, there are ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed their parties.
“President Tinubu is an avowed democrat and a firm believer in multiparty democracy. His political activism and democratic credentials in galvanising and strengthening opposition platforms as a force that defeated a sitting President and the then ruling party attest to his credibility as a tested defender of multiparty democracy.”
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