In a stirring Democracy Day address to a joint session of the National Assembly, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a passionate case for political pluralism in Nigeria, pushing back against growing criticism that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is steering the country toward one-party dominance.
Rather than deny the APC’s growing strength, Tinubu reframed the narrative—arguing that its ascendancy is the outcome of political evolution, not suppression, and rooted in Nigeria’s hard-won democratic gains since the return to civilian rule.
“A one-party state is neither desirable nor possible,” he declared. “And I, of all people, would never support such an idea. My entire political life has been shaped by resistance—resistance to dictatorship, resistance to domination, and resistance to silencing.”
Without naming names at first, Tinubu invoked the struggles of 2003, when, as Governor of Lagos, he stood as the lone progressive voice in the Southwest amid a near-total sweep by the then-ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). “They claimed they would rule for 60 years uninterrupted. But democracy, in its resilience, had other plans,” he said.
The President’s speech was both reflective and tactical. He reminded lawmakers of his defiance under General Sani Abacha’s military regime, when he and others reconvened the dissolved National Assembly in protest—a move that landed them in jail but cemented their legacy as defenders of Nigeria’s democratic space.
He credited these experiences as shaping the coalition that would later birth the APC, describing the party’s rise not as a threat to democracy but a testament to it.
In a moment of sharp irony, Tinubu turned to the present-day PDP, which has decried the growing number of defections to the APC. “Political parties struggling with internal cohesion should look inward,” he said. “It is not the duty of the APC to fix your house.”
Still, Tinubu was careful to distance himself from triumphalism. “Let us be clear,” he said. “Democracy is not a winner-takes-all game. It must accommodate dissent, encourage competition, and reflect the diversity of our people.”
His remarks come amid broader public unease over Nigeria’s democratic trajectory, with civil society groups warning of shrinking opposition space and weakened checks and balances. But Tinubu insisted that the true danger lies not in political consolidation, but in abandoning the hard lessons of the past.
“Our challenge today is not whether democracy survives, but whether we can deepen it—make it more responsive, more inclusive, and more just,” he said. “We must remember that democracy is not just about parties. It is about people. And it must always serve them.”
By recentering the debate on values rather than victories, Tinubu sought to reclaim the narrative—not as a strongman securing his dominance, but as a veteran democrat urging his nation forward.