Nigeria risks sliding into one-party rule if opposition remains divided, says Nenadi 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.

“When our leaders put Nigeria first — above ambition, above ego, above the lure of quick power — no ruling party can break us.

“It is time to stop acting like victims and start behaving like visionaries. Our role is not to whine about the state of the nation but to fight for its redemption.”

Calling for a united front among opposition parties, Usman urged political leaders to rise above ego and work towards giving Nigerians credible alternatives.

“Democracy thrives not through silence or submission but through robust debate, critique, and the offering of credible alternatives,” she said.

“Without a strong and functional opposition, we cannot claim to be practising democracy, only a shadow of it.

“Around the world, we have seen how opposition movements shape democratic resilience. Yet here at home, we are witnessing the slow suffocation of opposition voices — not by accident, but by design.”

She warned that the absence of a strong opposition could erode public trust in democratic institutions.

“It does this country no good to operate a system where one party dominates unchecked. Even the APC, if it is wise, should understand that democracy dies not with a bang but with the silence of dissent,” she said.

Usman urged opposition parties to not only criticise the government’s failures but also provide sound policy ideas that inspire hope.

On Friday, Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accused the APC-led federal government of deliberately weakening opposition parties by encouraging defections through coercion and inducement.

Ologunagba accused the government of undermining democracy by using state power to lure opposition members.