FORMER Kaduna State governor Alhaji Balarabe Musa was warned that Nigeria risks becoming a one-party state with the current wave of mass defections from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).  

In the March 28 elections, the APC's presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, sparking a wave of defections. Across Nigeria's 36 states, PDP members have been quitting their party and joining the APC in a bid to become part of the governing party. 

Over the last week, thousands of PDP members have jumped ship and only yesterday, Jonathan Zwingina, the former PDP deputy senate majority leader and senator representing Adamawa South, led a group of high profile members in Adamawa State to defect to the APC from the PDP.  Among those who left with him were former minister of external affairs, Idi Hong, and two serving senators, Bello Tukur and Ahmed Barata. 

In Adamawa and Edo States in particular, the defection to the APC from the PDP has been more of a deluge as the PDP's former governorship candidate in Edo State Retired Major General Charles Airhiavbere led the defections to the APC. In Kwara State, the defectors were also led by a high profile figure in Senator Gbemi Saraki.

 Warning of the implications of these mass defections, Alhaji Musa said that over the coming days, especially after the governorship and state house of assembly elections, the APC would grow stronger. He added that this would allow the party take the status of the PDP, which has ruled Nigeria since 1999, while the outgoing ruling party would fade away gradually. 

Alhaji Musa said: “What is happening is democratic and it is inevitable if you take into account the way the APC emerged. Almost right from the beginning the APC was 70% of PDP defectors and this practice started even before the APC. 

“It was the situation with the APP after the PDP won in 1999 as it is the bandwagon effect and it is happening because the APC has won the presidency. What it really means is that we are now going to have a one-party state as the PDP will fade away gradually leaving the APC in the situation the PDP has been in the past 16 years.” 

He added that it had been the design of the ruling class to make Nigeria a one-party state so that they could easily decide who would rules the country. According to Alhaji Musa, prior to 1999, the ruling class was going to make the PDP the only viable party in the country but when the one-party plan failed they adopted a two-party plan, with the All Peoples Party being second and lower party.