Former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) and founding All Progressives Congress (APC) member, Osita Okechukwu, has warned that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s insistence on contesting the 2027 presidential election without yielding ground risks creating a “one-party system” and undermining opposition unity.
Speaking on Thursday in Enugu, Okechukwu said Atiku’s declaration that he is “not stepping aside” exposes the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties’ internal disunity, personal ambition, and anti-democratic tendencies.
He highlighted Atiku’s absence from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) grand ceremony in Kano, where Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Kwankwasiyya movement were welcomed into the party fold. According to Okechukwu, Atiku’s failure to engage in consensus-building “only fuels the perception of a one-party dominance in Nigeria.”
Okechukwu recalled that Atiku exhibited similar anti-democratic tendencies during the PDP 2023 presidential primary, which destabilized the party. He stressed that repeated accusations against the APC of constructing a “one-party system” are a smokescreen to distract from the opposition’s internal disunity and lack of strategic direction.
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“The real problem lies in personal ambition overriding collective good,” Okechukwu said, emphasizing the importance of the zoning convention in ensuring inclusion, fairness, and equitable rotation of presidential power between the north and south.
He further urged Atiku, as an elder statesman, to support coalition-building between Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso for a credible and competitive 2027 presidential election, warning that ego-driven rivalry among opposition leaders weakens Nigeria’s democratic process.
Okechukwu concluded that the strength of the APC lies not only in incumbency but also in the opposition’s inability to unite and prioritize national interest over individual ambition. He called on opposition parties to set aside personal differences to preserve democratic balance and robust electoral competition in Nigeria.
