By Obaike Odihue
The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has said the ambition of the ruling All Progressives Party, APC, is to be the dominant party, not to make Nigeria a one-party state as being alleged.
He attributed the current gale of defection to the APC to the impressive performance of President Bola Tinubu and the party, citing the reforms embarked by the current administration, which in he said are already yielding results.
The governor spoke to newsmen after he had met with President Tinubu on Tuesday.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori moved the entire opposition PDP structure into the APC penultimate, even as there are indications that more opposition governors will join the ruling party before this year end.
Asked his impression about the defections to the APC and the fears of a one-party state already in the making, the governor said the insinuation is far-fetched.
He said: “I don’t believe, by the slightest of imagination, that we are going to be a one-party state. If you look at it, no matter how successful we are, you know, even America, for instance, that have the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, you still have the Green Party and so many other political parties that you don’t hear about. So, the same thing with Nigeria.
“No matter what happens, there are people who are going to be in another party. Actually, we don’t even want Nigeria to be a one-party state. We just want to be the dominant party. We just want to be the winning party. We just want to be the party. If we can win 90% of the votes, okay, that’s it.
The other parties can win 10% of the votes. So, it’s not about-and I’m not being sarcastic. I’m just trying to be serious with you.
“There is no way we can be a one-party state. But every party wants to be the dominant party. Every party wants to win elections.
Every party wants to be able to give back to society and to give back to the people. AndI think that’s what our party is doing.”
Sule argued that the driving force for the defections is the sterling performance of President Tinubu.
“It’s a reflection of the performance of our party and the performance of Mr. President. Mr. President is carrying out a lot of reforms. We saw the first reforms in the area of the unification of the effects.
“We saw another one in the removal of subsidy. We have seen one now in the power sector. In fact, one of the ones that interests me that we are doing is the one of skill acquisition and agriculture.
“You know, so when you are beginning to see a lot of these efforts, a lot of these reforms, nearly every reform will come with its ups and downs. You know, but the advantages of some of these reforms far outweigh the disadvantages. So, as a result of that, people who are happy with what they are seeing, they are the people who are returning to the party.
“So, I think the party is doing well, and for that reason, the President is also doing well. And that is the reason why people are joining.”
