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By Myke Agunwa
The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has said that it is constitutionally impossible to turn the country into a one-party state.
The APC has recently witnessed an influx of members from governors, national and state assembly members, and ex-governors. The high point was the defection of Delta State governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the deputy, former governor of Delta State Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, all the elected officials in the national and state assemblies as well as elected local government officials.
The move has raised public outcry among the opposition parties as they accused the ruling party of turning the country into a one party state.
Morka, while speaking with Journalists on Thursday, pointed out that the defections of opposition party members to the APC do not mean that the ruling party wants a one-party system in Nigeria.
He dismissed the one-party narrative, saying the APC only worries about how it’ll continue to protect itself and provide good governance for citizens.
He recalled that when the PDP was in power, it controlled over 28 states without being accused of turning the country into a one-party state.
Morka said there’s nothing wrong with PDP and Labour Party members defecting to the APC if they desire to identify with the ruling party’s processes.
“Many of these people are coming in and saying, ‘we want to be part of the process. We want to identify with that process. There’s nothing wrong with that. And you know, that does not mean that we desire for Nigeria to then become a one party system,” he said.
He explained that Nigeria is a pluralist country and that the APC cannot afford to violate the Constitution by engendering a one-party system. To do that, he explained, would require a constitutional amendment, which, according to him, is “nearly impossible.”
“As our country, both in the Constitution, in the Electoral Act, and in a plethora of other laws, has embedded systems that unmistakably make Nigeria a multi-party and pluralist society. So we cannot, as a party desire to go against the force of the Constitution, to say we want a party. Because to do that, you have to change a lot, which is nearly impossible to change,” he explained.