ABUJA —PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu yesterday told opposition elements in the country to lick their wounds and stop blaming him for the inability to manage affairs of their parties competently.
He also said politicians changing party affiliation was not new or peculiar to Nigeria, pointing out that in more advanced democracies, there were ready examples of notable politicians, statesmen and women who changed parties.
He stated further that the accusations that his administration was moving towards authoritarianism were baseless and exaggerated, adding that democracy in the country was not in any way being said to be under threat.
The President, who in a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, wondered while the defection of some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, such as the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, should be celebrated, while the defection of some members of the opposition party should be condemned.
The statement, titled “Democracy strong and alive in Nigeria, ignore alarmists,’’ read: “We have read the alarming claims of disgruntled opposition figures, some partisan human rights crusaders and emergency defenders of democracy over recent defections of key members of opposition parties into the governing All
Progressives Congress.
“The seismic shift caused by Akwa Ibom governor, Umo Eno’s open declaration of support for President Bola Tinubu, the defection of the Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, the former vice presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the last election, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, and principal political actors in Delta and Rivers states certainly threw the opposition and their sympathisers into disarray.
“While the opposition elements are understandably heartbroken over the failure of their fabled grand coalition to gain traction, we find it disturbing that they resorted to peddling false allegations of promoting a one-party state against President Bola Tinubu, who is working very hard to reverse decades of economic mismanagement in our country.
“Contrary to the false claims in the propaganda materials in circulation across mainstream and social media, democracy is not under any threat in Nigeria. Accusations that the administration is moving towards authoritarianism are baseless and exaggerated.
“We must add that no policy, official action or directive from the Presidency seeks to ‘dismantle democracy’ or ‘weaken opposition or create a one-party state.’