By SHEDDY OZOENE
We are gradually getting close. The stumbling blocks that stood in the way of a seamless re-election for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are being steadily dismantled. What seemed, only months ago, like a discordant orchestra of voices within the Nigerian political space is gradually being tuned into harmony and the political establishment is increasingly being united in words, in actions, and in purpose, towards a single end: to queue behind Tinubu and sing his praises into 2027.
President Tinubu has, quite ironically, become the beautiful bride of Nigerian politics. Even as his administration reels under fierce criticism for policies that have worsened hardship and pushed millions deeper into poverty, his party—the All Progressives Congress (APC)—has somehow become the most coveted political platform in the land. It is a striking paradox: how else can one explain that, just when opposition voices should be growing louder, many of their leading figures are instead scrambling for space within the APC fold?
Just two weeks ago, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, along with his cabinet members and virtually the entire state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), dramatically resigned from the party and pitched their tent with the APC. Barely hours later, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and members of his executive council also announced their departure from the PDP in a move that, by every indication, will lead them into the same ruling fold. Rumour mills in Abuja now whisper that Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba may soon follow the same path.
The movement has become a political tsunami of sorts. The narrative being sold is that this mass realignment is destined to usher the nation into a kind of political Eldorado— a new political stability and unity; a country where the President will have the impetus to deliver without the cacophony of political rivalry.
Many know it is a lie. The defections are simply about ensuring Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. But in seeking this end, so much effort is being invested in ensuring that the PDP, once touted as the largest political organization in Africa, no longer has a leg to stand on? Which begs the question: Is there something deeper and more orchestrated in all of this grand unification?
Many of the departing governors, including Delta’s Sheriff Oborevwori and Akwa Ibom’s Umo Enoh—who defected earlier—have given a uniform excuse: that the PDP has been embroiled in a lingering leadership crisis for nearly two years. The party, they lament, has become rudderless and divided, and they fear it could implode entirely before the next election cycle. On the surface, their reasons sound plausible. Yet, none of them has found the courage to admit the uncomfortable truth: that the same President Tinubu, into whose embrace they now flee, may very well be the unseen architect of their party’s collapse.
The signs have been there all along. When Tinubu appointed Nyesom Wike as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in 2023, many interpreted it as a reward for his crucial role in helping deliver key votes to the APC during the presidential election. But it is now clear that Wike’s appointment came with a secondary mission—to supervise the gradual dismantling of the PDP from within. If that was the assignment, he has performed it with ruthless efficiency. Under his watch, the PDP has shrunk both in influence and in membership. Once a formidable force that bestrode the political landscape like a colossus, it now struggles to even maintain a coherent national voice.
So, the PDP governors are fleeing from what they perceive as danger within their own house, only to run directly into the waiting arms of their political tormentor. And somewhere, Nyesom Wike is having a hearty laugh. Only last week, he mocked the new decampees, saying that many of those who once vilified him for aligning with Tinubu have now “seen the light.”
And indeed, as they all converge around Tinubu, the President himself must be quietly amused. It is not every day that a leader witnesses his political adversaries voluntarily dissolve their own platform and march, cap in hand, to his doorstep.
Don’t get me wrong—it’s not all a vain adventure. There will, of course, be rewards for Mbah and the other defectors, and even for the state. Their political sins will be wiped clean, and automatic tickets will likely await them in 2027. A few more federal appointments will trickle down to their loyalists, and there will be something tangible to showcase as the dividend of crossing over to the APC.
Like Esau who traded his birthright for a mere bowl of pottage, the present hunger in Delta, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, and elsewhere is being appeased at the expense of decades of political heritage and tomorrow’s dignity. President Bola Tinubu is said to be employing a carrot-and-stick strategy to coax his rivals into the APC fold. Yet, the method matters less than the outcome.
What truly counts are the consequences of bartering away rich political legacies for the fleeting rewards of the moment.
Beyond the rewards – for individuals and the states – this new reality raises a grave concern. Is Nigeria, under Tinubu, drifting toward a one-party state? That may not be his stated intention, but that is clearly where the road leads. A democracy without a vibrant and viable opposition is like a market square without competing voices; it soon becomes an echo chamber. In such an environment, power becomes absolute, dissent dies quietly, and the people lose the capacity to hold their leaders accountable.
A one-party Nigeria may sound appealing to those who equate political unity with national progress. Yet history teaches otherwise. Nations thrive on competition, on the clash of ideas, and on the constant tension between government and opposition. When everyone speaks with one voice, it is often because someone has taken away from others, the right to speak differently.
President Tinubu’s political dexterity is beyond question. He has succeeded where others stumbled. But as he basks in his triumph, he must remember that democracy is not sustained by dominance but by diversity—by the coexistence of multiple voices, even dissenting ones.
For now, he continues to level the field. But in doing so, he risks flattening the very foundation upon which our democracy stands.
Sheddy Ozoene is Editor-In-Chief of People&Politics, and Vice President (East) of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.