Olu Falae, a former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), has warned that the move by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of President Bola Tinubu to turn Nigeria into a ‘one party system’ will fail.

“It will never happen,” Mr Falae told journalists.

He added, “Because even in your family, you and your siblings, and your wife and children, well, you have the same grandfather. Can you agree on everything all the time? So, if it cannot happen in your family, that cannot happen in Nigeria. It cannot happen.”

Mr  Falae said Nigeria’s complex ethnic, religious, and political landscape requires inclusive political parties for the nation’s democratic growth and development.

Speaking in an interview in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the elder statesman lamented the dangers of political manipulation by the APC government aimed at sidelining opposition parties in the country.

The remarks of Mr Falae, who is also a prominent chieftain of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, come amid insinuations that Mr Tinubu is planning to slide the country into a one-party state ahead of next year’s general election.

Many political watchers in the country have begun to raise the alarm with the increasing number of defections to the APC.

Mr.Falae recalls how the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had once tried the move, but the idea later collapsed.

He said, “You remember when PDP was in charge, they tried to have a one-party state. And I remember Colonel Ali, who was sometimes chairman of the party, said, you are going to rule for 60 years.

“And my party at the time, they destabilised our party, they brought somebody who was not a member to become a chairman of the party. All attempts to create a one-party state, has it worked? No.

“I’m just trying to show you why I said it can never happen. Efforts will be made to have one party state, but once the purpose for which it has been arranged is achieved, everybody goes back to his base.”