Why One-party System Can’t Succeed In Nigeria – Adebayo

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has submitted that a one-party system can’t be implemented successfully in Nigeria.

He argued that there is no system of welfare that unites the politicians and the people they lead, so the citizens would always seek an alternative.

Adebayo made the submission while expressing his views during an interview with Vanguard, in which he was asked about the fear that Nigeria could be tilting towards a one-party state due to the recent massive inflow of politicians to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In his view, the former presidential candidate said there is a selfish accumulation of money for the few who are in the ruling class, and the wretched people who are on the streets are stranded.

“There cannot be a one-party state in Nigeria because there’s no system of welfare. There’s no system of employment. There’s no system of security. The benefits of politics are flowing in the direction of politicians. And a welfare politician changing from party to party cannot say he’s in the same coalition with the poor, who cannot pay their children’s school fees, who cannot sleep well at home, who cannot keep a job. And if they have a job, the pay from that job cannot satisfy one percent of their needs. So, there cannot be a one-party state when this is not a welfare state, when it is a selfish accumulation of money for the few who are in the ruling class and the wretched people who are on the streets.

“How can people who are standing in the rain waiting for a car to carry them, be a one-party system with those who are using multiple private jets paid for by the public? It is not possible. So, if all the governors go to one party, Nigeria will choose a new set of governors. If all the senators go to one party, Nigeria will choose another set of senators. So, that doesn’t make a one-party state; what makes a one-party state is the people thinking that they don’t need any other party outside the one that is ruling, or people being forced by law not to create another party. In Nigeria, you can create as many parties as you want, but what is going to sustain the party is whether the members of the party believe in that party.”

He argued that a credible alternative is what the SDP offers Nigerians, and the alternative is still valid despite the recent defection of politicians to the APC.

“And that’s what we’ve been trying to work on since we started leading the SDP, to make sure that only those who believe in the party join the party. And no matter the condition, after the last election, we were offered many positions in the government of President Tinubu. We only wish him well.

“I said, no, let us sustain our SDP. Let us provide the alternative. They removed subsidy on petrol and made the people poor, yet they still can’t balance the budget. We told them not to remove the subsidy. We have a way to balance the budget by increasing the revenue being collected, using transparency, and by managing government spending to eliminate waste, and by redirecting government budgeting towards creating employment for the people.

“So, that’s an alternative. We have good plans regarding security. You must have police at every level of government, so that local problems can be dealt with locally. We’ve brought a plan for agriculture, which would have eliminated seeing any herdsmen in the bushes or on the roads. We’ve brought a plan for full employment of the youth, so that you won’t find anyone going into banditry and all of that.

“We offer to clean the security apparatus, so that those who are collaborating with terrorists and bandits are not the ones in charge of spending government security votes. So, we put all of those plans in place, and we intend to expand agriculture, instead of using the money for fancy projects that you do not see.

“When we put all of this together, it’s an alternative that is still valid. So, there cannot be a one-party state, when our politics is not based on one set of ideas. Everybody will form a party based on the ideas they are pursuing,” Adebayo submitted.