Nigeria risks becoming one-party state, Labour Party warns

By Kunle Sanni

The caretaker chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Nenadi Usman, has raised alarm over the future of Nigeria’s democracy, warning that the country could descend into a one-party system if opposition parties fail to unite and prioritize the national interest over personal ambition.

Usman delivered the warning during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) award ceremony held on Monday in Abuja. Her remarks, conveyed through her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ken Eluma Asogwa, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of systematically eroding the foundations of democracy by weakening rival political parties.

“Since the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the ruling party, there has been a deliberate and relentless campaign to undermine the opposition,” she stated. “Tactics range from infiltration and co-optation to the use of state institutions for harassment, intimidation, and even judicial manipulation.”

According to Usman, the APC’s approach to governance has shifted from democratic competition to outright domination, posing a serious threat to political pluralism in the country.

“The ruling party has become adept not just at consolidating power but at weakening every form of challenge to it. This is not democracy; this is domination masked as governance,” she said.

However, Usman did not spare opposition parties from criticism. She acknowledged that internal strife, personal ambition, and a lack of cohesion within opposition ranks have also contributed to their vulnerability.

“While external interference from the APC has played a role, it is not the only culprit. The opposition has too often been complicit in its own weakening,” she noted. “No amount of external sabotage can succeed if there is no internal decay.”

Usman urged political actors across opposition lines to embrace what she described as “genuine, uncompromising patriotism,” emphasizing that national interest must come before individual ambition if Nigeria’s democratic system is to survive.