Ologunagba spoke on ‘Focus Nigeria’, a programme on AIT, while reacting to recent defections to the APC, the PDP’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, and preparations for the 2027 elections.

He said the President Bola Tinubu administration is deliberately weakening opposition parties by encouraging defections through coercion and inducement.

“When you find the president of the country in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society like Nigeria, declaring his preference for a one-party state, that shows the fact that they continue to aggressively attack the processes of other political parties,” he said.

The PDP spokesperson said the NEC communique addressed this trend, noting that most defections are not based on conviction but pressure from the ruling party.

“Those are the kind of inducement, coercion which was referenced in the (PDP NEC) communique yesterday by the chairman (Umar Iliya Damagum),” he said.

“Some of those defections are not defections based on conviction, they are based on coercion because of the stated policy and the intention of the president, and of course, the APC, to say that he wants a one-party state.”

He said the ruling party’s goal of establishing a one-party state is an illusion.

“But that’s an illusion because that’s not going to happen. Nigerians want multi-party democracy. They want respect for rule of law. They want respect for the constitution, for freedom of association,” he said.

Ologunagba accused the APC government of undermining democracy by using state power to lure opposition members.

“All the government needs to do is to ensure that the political parties operate within the laws of the country, not through coercion, through sometimes what I call sabotage, inducing people to threaten, and we’ve seen this happen,” he said.

He criticised the APC for “mistaking defections for policy success”.

“Democracy is about letting the ideas and your policies speak. This government, and that is curious and strange… this government, the APC, they celebrate defections as if it’s a success of a policy,” he said.

“Someone is defecting and then you find the whole statecraft bringing forward… you’re not saying, oh, our policy initiative has produced this. You’re not doing a scorecard. You’re not doing a scorecard about how many people have defected without even finding out.”

Ologunagba said the 2027 general election will not be about defections but about the APC’s performance in office.

“But again, let me tell you this, and APC should be warned. 2027 is not going to be about defections, it’s going to be about your policy, your scorecard before the Nigerian people,” he added.