Nigeria risks sliding into one-party rule if opposition remains divided – Nenadi Usman

Usman

Nenadi Usman, caretaker committee chairman of the Labour Party (LP), has warned that Nigeria risks sliding into a one-party state if opposition parties fail to unite and prioritise national interest over personal ambition.

Speaking at the African Democratic Congress (ADC) award night on Monday in Abuja, Usman accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of undermining the country’s democratic foundations through deliberate efforts to weaken rival parties.

In a speech delivered by Ken Eluma Asogwa, her senior special adviser on media, Usman alleged that the APC has resorted to using state institutions to harass, intimidate and manipulate the opposition.

“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 said.

“Tactics range from infiltration and co-optation to the use of state institutions for harassment, intimidation, and even judicial manipulation.

“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.”

Usman, however, admitted that external sabotage alone was not responsible for the opposition’s challenges, noting that internal divisions, greed, and personal ambition had also weakened their ranks.

“But let me also be brutally honest: 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 said.

“We must acknowledge that personal ambition, greed, and internal divisions have made us vulnerable. No amount of external sabotage can succeed if there is no internal decay.

“That is why I say the most potent antidote is not merely vigilance, but patriotism — genuine, uncompromising patriotism.