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The recent defections of opposition party leaders to Nigeria’s ruling party have been denounced by the Center for Human Rights and Accountability Network (CHRAN).

It characterizes such a move as self-serving and a danger to the democracy of the nation.

This was said over the weekend in Uyo by Otuekong Franklyn Isong, the Director of CHRAN, at an Annual Public Lecture with the theme “The Role of Opposition Political Parties in Deepening Democracy” in honor of Nigeria’s 2025 Democracy Day.

Isong urged Nigerians to resist the temptation to make the nation a one-party state, pointing out that opposing political parties are essential to preserving democracy. He emphasized that if political parties are diminished, drained, or suppressed, democracy cannot flourish.

“While we in CHRAN are advocating for independent candidacy to further enrich our multi-party system and broaden voters choice, we observe that the current political trend of self-serving defections from opposition political parties to the ruling party, if not checked, pose a serious threat to our hard-earned democracy.

“If we must deepen our democracy, opposition political parties must not be depleted, drained or silenced. If we must grow our democracy, we must resist the temptation of turning the country into a one-party State. Opposition political parties are necessary to safeguard democracy,” Isong said.

He asked President Bola Tinubu to act differently from his predecessors and to develop policies and programs that are focused on the needs of the people.

“We urge him to do things differently from his predecessors-in-office. Let his policies and programmes be pro-Nigerians. I believe that Mr. President has good intentions for this country.

“He has demonstrated the capacity to provide good governance to Nigerians. He has the strength of character to make a good leader,” the CHRAN director stated.

Isong praised Pastor Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, for his accomplishments in just two years, stating that they speak for him and characterizing his style of governing as a “bottom to top approach.”

“He is concentrating more on the downtrodden than the elites. He is paying pension promptly, and settling the backlogs of gratuities owed by successive administrations in the State.

“Under his watch, Akwa Ibom has remained one of the most peaceful States in the federation. The security agencies are being supported greatly by the Governor to carry out their responsibilities of crime fighting and crime prevention in the State.

“We appreciate and commend the concerted efforts of security agencies in the State for their relentless efforts to nip security challenges in the bud,” he stated.

Prof. Aniekan Sampson Brown, a professor of criminology in the University of Uyo’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, urged opposition parties to assume their role of accountability and inspection in his keynote speech.

“If you have a position in the social division of labour, the behaviour you put up in relation to that position is called role. And so in the social division of labour of politics, you have a political party in government as the ruling party, and then others will pass for the opposition parties.

“What are the roles of opposition parties? A simple Google will lead us to this, that one role would have to be for scrutiny and accountability. It is not that when you lose the election, you go to Dubai.

“When another election cycle comes, you come with money and you bamboozle everybody who lose their way through and win again, after that you go back, no,” he stated.

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