The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Chibuzor Okereke, has expressed confidence that Nigeria will not drift into a one-party state as preparations for the 2027 general elections gather momentum.

Mr Okereke stated this while featuring on Sunday in Abuja.

He urged Nigerians to disregard the one-party state narrative and actively participate in political activities to consolidate the existing multi-party democracy in the country.

Mr Okereke described the one-party state narrative as a mere political construct, saying those behind it were only trying to gain political advantage.

According to him, the 1999 Constitution, as it stands, allows for a multi-party system, adding that irrespective of the power wielded by the ruling party, the opposition must exist.

“I am not nursing the fear that our country could drift toward a one-party state. If I’m thinking that such could be possible, then why am I here as the presidential candidate, gathering Nigerian young people and women to vote for me in 2027?

“This is a mere political constructs. The Nigerian state has always had conspiracy theories and political constructs which are designed to gain advantage in a political period. This is normal.

“Nigeria will never drift into one-party state because we have laws that have made us a multi-party system.

“The only thing is that institutions of power and of democracy must rise to their responsibilities.

It is the inability of certain institutions to carry out their own responsibilities effectively that is making people worry about the issue of drifting to one-party state,” he said.

The presidential candidate said that institutions of power and democracy must rise to their responsibilities and ensure due process at all times.

He listed such institutions to include the judiciary, the electoral body and other state institutions, stressing that they must be able to stand their ground on due process.

Mr Okereke said that if a group of people who applied to register a political party met the criteria, they should be registered and that political parties must respect their constitutions.

“If you give room for internal crisis, then somebody else will take advantage. Remember, politics is a contestation and people are looking for advantages, and they can get it through weak points in your own system,” he said.

On the internal crises rocking some opposition parties, the presidential candidate blamed them on a lack of leadership discipline and disrespect for constitutional order.

He said that, as far as the Nigerian Constitution is concerned, political parties are the only gateway to government formation in the country.

“It is the institutional provisions that make the party vulnerable to desperate people who want to take over government to control the economy, policies and state funds,” he stated.

Mr Okereke argued that laws should not be personality-driven but should be guided by goodwill and the betterment of Nigerians.

He said that Nigerians should be able to point to political parties and tell them the kind of government they would run, which must be based on ideology.

Mr Okereke, however, maintained that statesmen who understood the role of political parties in governance and leadership must ensure that the best candidates emerged through due process.

“That is the only way internal democracy can work,” he said.

 (NAN)