Makinde spoke on Tuesday afternoon during a media chat with journalists, which was monitored by SaharaReporters.
The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has warned President Bola Tinubu against moves capable of pushing Nigeria towards a one-party state, insisting that such a path “won’t work” in a country founded on federalism and multi-party democracy.
Makinde spoke on Tuesday afternoon during a media chat with journalists, which was monitored by SaharaReporters.
Addressing concerns over recent political defections and internal developments within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the governor said, “In Nigeria today, we have to rise above partisanship,” adding that discussions around defections had not swayed his position.
“You know, this may really go straight into the issue within PDP. I say, OK, everybody has decamped, you know, and I’m saying I’m not moved,” he said.
Makinde said Nigeria’s founding fathers anchored the country on two non-negotiable principles, stressing that abandoning them would be dangerous.
“Because the people that negotiated Nigeria, they have two major things that was in there, in that negotiation. First, federalism. That’s why they call us Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the second pillar was political pluralism. “Two, multi-party democracy. That is why, upon independence, you have Action Group here, you have a Northern People’s Congress, you have a Northern NEPU, you have NEPU, you have NCNC. You understand? At independence, there’s multi-party democracy.”
The governor warned that attempts to collapse the political space into a dominant-party system could undermine national stability.
“So, now you’re moving the country towards, you know, a one-party state. It won’t work,” Makinde said, recalling a recent visit to the South-East.
“I was in Ebonyi, maybe two days ago, on Friday and Saturday,” he said.
Using a cultural illustration, Makinde highlighted Nigeria’s diversity and the need for a political structure that accommodates it.
“And then they brought kola to me and said, look, this kola in Igboland, if you are receiving, you know, a big visitor, you know, this is how you do it. I said, well, kola nuts are grown in the west, eaten in the north, and literally worshipped in the east. So you have different nations, different cultures within the nation called Nigeria,” he said.
He added that federalism was deliberately chosen to manage this diversity. “And the people that negotiated our independence, they felt, look, to have unity in that diversity, it has to be a federal arrangement.”
Makinde questioned the long-term consequences of weakening opposition politics in the country.
“If you move the country towards a one-party state, what happens the day you require a multi-party or bipartisan approach to issues? Who are you going to call?” he asked.
He also drew a parallel with political upheavals elsewhere. “The day you move the country towards a one-party state, you remember what happened with the Arab Spring. Once people don’t have leadership, they will find leaders, you know, by all means.”
Calling for restraint and responsibility among political leaders, Makinde said, “So we better get our act together as political leaders in this country.”
He concluded by linking his remarks to the broader debate around the PDP, saying, “And that will be my own approach to your question. Thank you, because you said something about PDP.”