A former Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Nigeria’s drift toward a one-party state, dismissing claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or President Bola Tinubu are responsible for the weakening of the opposition.
Okechukwu made this assertion on Sunday in Enugu while reacting to allegations that the APC was orchestrating the emergence of a one-party state.
He described such insinuations as misplaced and accused the PDP of being afflicted by the same “culture of impunity” it established during its 16-year rule.

According to the APC founding member, the PDP’s internal crises and obsession with “stomach infrastructure” have rendered it ineffective as an opposition party, despite having more than 10 governors.
“Without being immodest, one can recall how Alhaji Buba Galadima, the then National Secretary of CPC, was arrested and hounded on the eve of the 2007 general elections and offered all manner of carrots to abandon CPC and, by extension, former President Muhammadu Buhari,” Okechukwu said, highlighting the PDP’s history of political interference.
He further noted that since the APC merger in 2013, many PDP members have treated the ruling party as a “rehabilitation centre” instead of focusing on the key attributes of opposition politics: resilience, grit, and patience.
Okechukwu criticized the PDP for violating the rotational presidency convention and Section 7 of its constitution, which mandates power rotation between the North and South.
He attributed the party’s failure in the 2023 presidential election to its decision to field Atiku Abubakar, despite the prevailing sentiment for power to shift to the South.
“Imagine the breach of rotation convention by the PDP leadership, not minding the unintended consequences, with the erroneous thought that His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, would unlock the northern electorate from their dormitory to vote PDP in the 2023 presidential election.
This is a misjudgment, pure and simple, with its collateral damage, one of which is the slide toward a one-party state,” he stated.
Okechukwu also dismissed the PDP’s claims about unequal power distribution between the North and South since 1999, describing them as “fake arithmetic” that ignores Nigeria’s pre-1999 political history.
“They are at it again with fake arithmetic of South’s 17 years and North’s 11 years rule since 1999, as if Nigeria got independence in 1999,” he added.
Okechukwu urged the PDP to reflect on its failings and embrace reforms to play its role as an effective opposition, warning that the absence of a vibrant opposition would undermine Nigeria’s democratic system.
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