National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Felix Morka has dismissed allegations that President Bola Tinubu is steering Nigeria toward a one-party state ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting that the wave of defections into the ruling party is a consequence of the opposition’s internal collapse rather than any form of coercion.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Monday,Morka, said the recent movement of governors and other political actors into the APC was neither unprecedented nor undemocratic, stressing that those joining the party were doing so of their own free will.
Morka said the development should be viewed within the context of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, which guarantees citizens the freedom to associate with any political platform of their choice.
“I’m not really sure why this conversation has become elevated to the level that it is,” he said. “If this discussion was prompted by the recent defections by certain governors into the All Progressives Congress, this is not the first time this is happening in our country.”
He recalled that between 1999 and 2007, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also held overwhelming control across the states.
“Between 1999 and 2007, we witnessed a large concentration of governors in the Peoples Democratic Party. At that time, the PDP governed this country with upwards of 30 governors. So, we are not witnessing anything today that is extraordinary or novel in our democracy,” he said.
Rejecting claims that the APC or President Tinubu was exerting pressure on opposition governors to defect, Morka maintained that no credible evidence had been presented to support such accusations.
“The governors who have come into the APC have come because they chose to come into the APC,” he said. “Neither my dear brother here in the studio nor anyone else outside has managed to offer any credible or sensible explanation for the suggestion that the APC or Mr. President is doing anything extraordinary or untoward to pressure these governors to join.”
He argued that the political and financial stature of many of the defecting governors made the allegation of inducement implausible.
“How do you pressure a governor like the governor of Delta State, one of the richest subnational entities in this country? What exactly do you offer him as an incentive to join?” Morka asked.
According to him, the more important question Nigerians should ask is why governors would abandon parties that had long enjoyed electoral success in their states.
“You must ask yourself, and Nigerians must ask, what then was the reason for a governor who was a member of a party that had been consistently successful to decide to leave that party?” he said.
Morka said the answer lay in what he described as the deep dysfunction within the opposition, especially the PDP.
“The PDP has become utterly dysfunctional,” he said. “The PDP is no longer able to call itself a political party properly so-called because it is incapable, by its own internal dysfunction, of offering its members any credible, sensible and actionable platform to pursue their political aspirations.”
He added that defections to the APC should be seen as a vote of confidence in the ruling party.
“When people move and drift into the APC, it is an endorsement of the APC. It is a statement that the APC is able to offer them what the PDP is not able to offer them, what the Labour Party is unable to offer them, and what the ADC is not able to offer them. And that is not our fault,” he said.
On the charge that the APC was benefiting from the weakening of opposition parties and thereby narrowing the democratic space, Morka described the allegation as “utterly mischievous.”
“When people suggest that because of that the country is turning towards a one-party state, that is utterly mischievous,” he said. “It does not take into account our history, and it does not take into account the realities of a democratic society like Nigeria.”
Morka also defended the right of individuals in other political parties to openly support President Tinubu, saying their citizenship rights supersede party affiliation.
“Every Nigerian is free to support, participate in, belong to, or hold political opinions of their choosing,” he said. “Their citizenship and their right to hold personal political opinions trump every other associational right, including membership of a political party.”
He said there was nothing unconstitutional or improper about politicians from outside the APC openly aligning with the president.
“If there is any Nigerian associated with a political tendency or party who today is professing support for the president, there is no countervailing measure to chill that individual or circumscribe their freedom to hold those opinions,” he said.
Morka further credited President Tinubu’s style of governance for the growing acceptance of the APC among governors, including those elected on opposition platforms.
“The president is not a participant in this matter,” he said. “The reason you see these governors and others coming to the APC is that this president is a very unusual president.”
According to him, several governors had told him that Tinubu had related with them in a non-partisan and inclusive manner since assuming office.
“Many of them told me that since the inauguration of this administration, the president has related to them as though they were members of his party,” Morka said. “The president has been almost completely non-discriminatory politically towards these governors.
“He has attended to their issues and sometimes even offered help where they have not asked for it, because the president views Nigeria as one constituency irrespective of political divisions.”
He said that experience had convinced many governors that there was no hostility or exclusion from the centre, contrary to opposition narratives.
“These governors have related to this president seamlessly, without political barriers or colouration,” he said. “Those who are joining the APC understand fully well that there has been no extraordinary pressure on them to join, because such pressures are not in fact possible.”
Morka also used the interview to launch a broadside against the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accusing it of lacking ideas and relying solely on attacks against the ruling party.
“The ADC has made attacking the APC its only and singular manifesto,” he said. “Attacking the APC has become their DNA, and they believe, erroneously, that attacking the APC will get them elected to office.”
He argued that the party had failed to present Nigerians with any credible policy alternatives.
“The ADC has not offered Nigerians any alternative thought, any alternative prescription, or any alternative agenda different from what the APC is doing,” he said.
Morka cited criticism of the Tinubu administration’s removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate unification, challenging the ADC to state clearly whether it would reverse those policies if given the opportunity.
“They recently issued a statement blaming the APC for removing fuel subsidy and harmonising the exchange rate, and for the poverty that has increased in Nigeria,” he said. “I want to challenge the ADC to come out today and tell Nigerians that if they ever get anywhere near power, they will restore fuel subsidy as it was and return to the dual exchange rate system.”
He said it was easy for opposition parties to criticise government decisions, but much harder to offer workable alternatives.
“It is easy to criticise, but it is not easy to prescribe alternative measures to address Nigeria’s challenges,” Morka said.
Boluwatife Enome
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