Nigeria is becoming a one party state – Akwa Ibom Governor says

chika ebuzor

February 23, 2017 9:08 AM

Emmanuel also said the move will not do Nigeria any good, adding that it will endanger our democracy.

Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel

The Akwa-Ibom state Governor, Udom Emmanuel has said that going by the current trend in Nigeria, the country is gradually becoming a one party state.

Emmanuel also said the move will not do Nigeria any good, adding that it will endanger democracy.

The Governor said this at the Ibom International Airport, on his way back from Abuja.

Emmanuel was in Abuja to attend the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders meeting that was called, following the declaration of Ali Modu Sheriff as the party chairman.

Sheriff was declared the lawful chairman of the PDP by an Appeal Court in Rivers state on Friday, February 17, 2016.

Speaking further, the Governor said the one party state will not give room for the opposition to thrive.

Emmanuel also said it may give rise to dictatorship, which will not mean well for the country.

He said "As a country, we are assisting other countries to institute democracy, how come we are destroying ours? We should not allow the country to be run like this, else our democracy will collapse.”

The Governor also gave instances of some un-democratic incidents saying: “The sealing off of International Conference Centre, venue of the meeting, by the Police was a sad commentary on our democracy. Twice, we have experienced this. The other time, we had to hold the convention at the zonal secretariat of the party because the Port Harcourt stadium was barricaded by the Police.

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“A country of more than 170 million people is too large for one party structure. Let us make room for other parties to operate because a multi- party system will ensure the survival of democratic governance in the country.”

According to reports, Governor Udom Emmanuel is one of the strong supporters of the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the PDP.

chika ebuzor