Former Senate President and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of pursuing a deliberate plan to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
Wabara made the remarks while reacting to the defection of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah and the rumoured move by Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri to join the APC. He claimed the ruling party was “stifling democracy” through systematic intimidation and manipulation of opposition figures.
According to Wabara, “I saw this coming. I raised the alarm, but I was ignored. This is not the democracy we nurtured and guarded. The APC is killing Nigeria’s democracy by muzzling the opposition.”
He argued that the wave of defections was not driven by ideological conviction or better governance in the APC but by “coerced defection” born out of fear and political pressure. Wabara further accused the APC of refusing to implement electoral reforms that would guarantee credible elections, saying such actions weaken democracy.
The former Senate President also maintained that the ruling party had shown no real capacity to govern, stressing that since 2015, Nigeria had witnessed economic hardship, rising poverty, and a steady erosion of democratic values. “There is nothing attractive in the APC,” he said. “It was never prepared for governance.”
Despite the recent defections, Wabara insisted that the PDP remains strong, declaring that “the masses are still with the party” and that defections by a few elites would not spell its end. “PDP will not die,” he said. “We have come a long way, and we will survive the current storm.”
He encouraged PDP members, particularly from the South East, to remain committed ahead of the 2027 elections, predicting that the APC would eventually implode.
“In 2027, it will not be the governors but the suffering Nigerians who will decide the fate of the APC,”