As Nigeria marches toward the 2027 general elections, warning signs are flashing red on the democratic dashboard. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) is tightening its grip on power, not through policy success or ideological strength, but by systematically dismantling opposition parties through orchestrated defections, the misuse of state resources, and the weaponization of incumbency. With Nigeria teetering between hope and hegemony, the specter of tyranny cloaked in democratic garb casts a growing shadow over the republic. The ruling APC, once heralded as an engine of reform, has transfigured into a ravenous political leviathan; gorging itself on the soul of the opposition and choking the lifeblood of democracy with orchestrated defections, state-sanctioned coercion, and shameless propaganda. By sounding the alarm now and organizing with urgency, the opposition can pull Nigeria back from the brink – and begin building the country Nigerians truly deserve.
The recent APC National Summit in Abuja, bathed in sycophancy and bereft of introspection, laid bare the ruling party’s intentions: a premature and choreographed endorsement of President Tinubu as the APC’s 2027 presidential candidate. This event, framed as a “midterm performance review,” morphed into a full-blown re-election campaign declaration as APC apparatchiks – governors, lawmakers, and party barons – lined up to anoint President Tinubu as the “sole candidate” for 2027. Their applause echoed like a dirge in a dying democracy, a prelude to the final act of political capture. “We are in a constitutional democracy,” Tinubu proclaimed, with the bravado of a monarch cloaked in legality. Even more alarming is Tinubu’s cavalier response to the wave of defections from opposition parties. “Don’t blame a people bailing out a sinking ship,” he quipped, celebrating a disturbing trend that is rapidly transforming Nigeria into a de facto one-party state. This is not democracy. This is political hegemony masquerading as constitutional liberty.
A Nation Hijacked
Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of association, but this freedom must be rooted in genuine political competition, not coerced assimilation into a dominant power structure. The APC summit was no celebration of freedom. It was a coronation masked as consultation, a rallying cry for one-party rule disguised as democratic choice. With every applause, Nigeria’s pluralism bled a little more. With every defection celebrated, a dagger was driven deeper into the chest of multiparty democracy. What we are witnessing is not natural political realignment; it is systemic inducement, designed to hollow out the opposition and eliminate dissent.
By leveraging patronage networks, withholding appointments, and strategically dangling access to federal largesse, the APC is seducing and pressuring political actors to defect. And with every high-profile defection, cheered and welcomed as “joining the progressives,” Nigeria moves closer to a dangerous precipice where alternative voices are silenced, and electoral outcomes are predetermined. This slide into one-party rule is not just anti-democratic; it is anti-Nigerian.
The president scoffed at the avalanche of defections from the opposition as “people bailing out of a sinking ship.” But who, we ask, is holding the rudder of that ship? It is the very machinery of the APC -weaponizing federal appointments, manipulating security apparatuses, dangling state resources like poisoned carrots – that compels such exodus. In Tinubu’s Nigeria, the lure of power has become a cudgel. The freedom to associate has become a tool of subjugation. What we are witnessing is not a consolidation of democracy, it is its slow suffocation. This is not the freedom of movement the constitution envisioned; it is the freedom of coercion, the choreography of defectors enticed by rewards, not principle. A system where loyalty is bought, not earned, and silence is traded for comfort.
APC’s Strategic Capture of State Institutions
Tinubu’s administration, with its so-called “Renewed Hope Agenda,” claims to be steering Nigeria toward prosperity. But the facts on the ground – endemic poverty, hyperinflation, unemployment, and insecurity – tell a different story. What is clear, however, is that the administration has been efficient in one area: political consolidation. Governors, National Assembly members, and federal appointees are being mobilized to campaign not for policies, but for Tinubu’s second term – two years in advance. In a chilling display of political sycophancy, the APC North Central stakeholders, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and several governors, declared uncritical loyalty to Tinubu and pledged their zones for his re-election. This is not governance. This is cult politics.
The APC’s grotesque display of internal applause masks a deeper rot. At a time when Nigerians are reeling from soaring inflation, joblessness, hunger, and insecurity, the ruling elite dances on marble floors, toasting to 2027. Governance has become theater; the people, props. What sort of democracy is this, where elections are decided before ballots are printed? Where the legislature chants in unison, “carry go,” as if the will of 200 million Nigerians were an afterthought? What remains of representative governance when governors and senators act as chorus boys in a tragic opera of autocracy? The APC’s obsession with dominance has hollowed out every organ of the republic. Institutions once built to resist tyranny now genuflect before it. Party loyalty has replaced public service. The altar of re-election now demands sacrifice – of truth, of justice, of Nigeria’s democratic soul.
The Opposition’s Sacred Duty
Yet, even as the APC builds its monolithic tower of vanity, the winds of resistance begin to stir.
In a bold and necessary rebuke to this creeping autocracy, a coalition of opposition actors has risen. Led by seasoned patriots – David Mark, Liyel Imoke, Rotimi Amaechi, and others – this coalition is not merely an alliance of ambition, but a convocation of conscience. They have begun the sacred task of reawakening the republic from its slumber, exploring the possibility of forming a new political force: the
All Democratic Alliance (ADA). The ADA is not just a party; it is an act of reclamation. A revival of the democratic spirit that once inspired the streets of Lagos, the valleys of Jos, the markets of Kano, and the classrooms of Enugu. It is a movement forged in the fire of injustice and tempered by the people’s enduring hope, that exemplifies a growing awareness of the urgent need to counter APC’s monopoly.
But the road ahead is narrow and treacherous. If the opposition does not consolidate swiftly, organize effectively, and communicate clearly, 2027 will be lost before it begins.
A Roadmap to Redemption
To restore balance to the democratic ecosystem and rescue Nigeria from this encroaching darkness, the opposition must embrace an audacious and deliberate path, and urgently commit to a unified strategy. Here’s how:
1. Form a United Political Front
Build the ADA or reinvent an existing platform: whether through the ADA or an existing party, the opposition must birth a vehicle untainted by the failures of the past; one that can earn, not just request, the people’s trust. All opposition actors, regardless of ideological or regional differences, must fuse into a single, broad-based coalition. Petty rivalries must yield to the greater cause. Ethnic, religious, and partisan cleavages must be bridged by shared pain and a common dream. Fragmentation only serves the APC.
2. Develop and Publicize a Clear Alternative Vision
The opposition must articulate a compelling, people-first agenda that directly contrasts with APC’s failures – on jobs, security, infrastructure, inflation, and justice. The people are disillusioned, but they need hope, not just criticism.
3. Mobilize Civil Society and Youth Movements
Young Nigerians are politically awake, and many feel betrayed by the status quo. Coalitions must engage student unions, labor, activists, and professional bodies to build a movement that transcends elite politics.
4. Strengthen Legal and Constitutional Resistance
Invoke constitutional provisions against illegal defections. Section 68 of the Constitution is not a suggestion. Defectors who lack just cause must forfeit their seats. The opposition must pursue legal action to compel the National Assembly to declare vacant the seats of legislators who defected without cause, as per the Constitution.
5. Build Grassroots Structures and Digital Infrastructure
Electoral victories are not won at national conferences. They are won ward-by-ward. Opposition parties must deploy modern campaign tools, community organizing, and data-driven voter outreach programs, especially in underserved rural and urban communities.
6. Create a Shadow Government
Appoint opposition spokespersons for each ministry to constantly provide alternative policy critiques and highlight APC’s failures in real time. Every lie must be confronted. Every failed promise must be illuminated. Every abuse must be named. The opposition must be the nation’s memory in an age of forgetting. This will enhance credibility and public trust.
7. Mobilize the People, Not Just Elites: Real power lies not in caucuses or conclaves, but in the masses. The farmer in Kebbi, the teacher in Osogbo, the nurse in Makurdi – they are the vanguard of change. Engage in civil resistance; organize town halls, marches, court challenges, media blitzes. Democracy must be fought for, not just in elections, but every day.
Conclusion: A Call to Conscience
The APC’s hunger for power knows no bounds, but history teaches us that even the mightiest regimes fall; not from without, but from within. What Nigeria faces today is not just an overconfident ruling party. It is a creeping authoritarianism dressed in constitutional clothing. Nigeria needs a strong, principled, and organized opposition – not for the sake of power, but for the survival of democracy itself. When the people reclaim their voice, when conscience outweighs fear, when unity defies division, then, even the most entrenched regime must bow to change.
Nigeria stands at a crossroads: One road leads to submission, stagnation, and silence. The other to resistance, reform, and renewal. If the opposition continues to play the game by APC’s rules, there will be no game left to play in 2027. Let it not be said that in 2027, when democracy trembled, good people did nothing. The time to act is now. Tomorrow may be too late. Let the opposition rise, not as a reaction, but as a resurrection. Let a thousand voices sing in defiance of the drumbeats of dictatorship. Let Nigeria, once more, become the land of many parties, many dreams, and one enduring promise: That power belongs to the people.
