CONSTITUTIONAL lawyer and human rights advocate, Mike Ozekhome, has raised fears over Nigeria’s drift into a one-party state.

He said the development would lead to dictatorship.

Ozekhome, a senior advocate, raised the concern while speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Hard Copy’ programme on Saturday, June 7.

He expressed concern over the current political situation in the country, where many politicians are defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC)

Ozekhome described the trend as “bootlicking at its highest level.”

He decried rampant defections among elected leaders.

He said such defections demonstrated a lack of political ideology among the politicians who seem to be prioritising personal gain over party principles.

“It’s like beans, akara, and moi-moi; they’re the same,” Ozekhome said.

He also condemned the erosion of political ideology as a dangerous move, stressing that a one-party state would lead to unchecked power.

“In a one-party state, dictatorship reigns supreme. Everybody will agree. The National Assembly pocketed, will agree. Judiciary will be pocketed, and everybody will be saying yes, yes, yes.

“Dictatorship, absolute corruption will no longer be checked because everybody will be there,” Ozekhome warned.

He said if the opposition party remained fractured, President Bola Tinubu could  “virtually run against himself” in the 2027 elections.

He, however, believes that such a one-party system will implode, citing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which once boasted to rule for 60 years but was only in power for 16 years.

Ozekhome further expressed dismay that the Nigerian masses appeared docile, likening their attitudes to the “Stockholm Syndrome.”

He argued that the average Nigerian, when pushed to the wall by hardship, would rather retreat than challenge their aggressors, preferring to remain in a state of “helplessness and hopelessness.”

He urged Nigerians to be resilient and hold their governments accountable, reminding them that “the power is yours; it is not theirs.”

The ICIR reports that there has been a wave of defection to the ruling APC and endorsement of the incumbent president for the 2027 general election.

The latest of such defections was from the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, who joined the APC party on Friday, June 6, and had directed his state executive council members, comprising all his appointees, to be ready to defect to the party or resign.

Before Eno’s defection, the Delta State Sheriff Oborevwori had abandoned the PDP for the APC along with the former governor, Lucky Okowa, and other chieftains.

The ICIR reported key politicians who have joined the APC since January this year.