By Muhammad Nuruddeen Abdullahi
Email: amnuru@gmail.com
Kaduna, Nigeria
Nigeria’s democracy is being quietly undermined by a troubling trend: politicians who win elections under one party frequently defect to another, often the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after securing victory and occupying office. This culture of political desperation and opportunism not only betrays voters but poses a serious threat to democratic stability, accountability, and the future of political competition in the country.
At the core of any democratic system is the trust between elected officials and the electorate. Citizens vote not only for individuals but for party manifestos, ideologies, and visions for governance. When politicians defect after benefiting from a party’s platform, they invalidate the mandate given to them by voters. Such behaviour fuels public cynicism, undermines participation, and weakens the legitimacy of electoral outcomes.
In Nigeria, defections are rarely driven by ideological disagreements. Instead, they often reflect personal ambition, fear of political irrelevance, or the search for proximity to federal power. The APC, as the ruling party, has become a magnet for these movements. For many politicians, joining the APC is perceived as a route to securing patronage, appointments, or political protection. This reduces political parties to temporary shelters rather than ideological institutions, turning politics into a marketplace where loyalty shifts with convenience.
One of the most damaging consequences of this trend is the weakening of opposition parties. A healthy democracy depends on strong opposition capable of providing checks and balances, offering alternative policy direction, and holding the ruling party accountable.
However, when opposition figures defect to the APC, the political space becomes unbalanced. Government policies face less scrutiny, debates lose depth, and governance becomes lopsided. Over time, this imbalance creates an environment where the ruling party becomes too powerful to challenge effectively.
The cumulative effect of these defections is a gradual drift toward a one-party state. While Nigeria remains officially multiparty, the concentration of political actors within the APC especially through defections instead of free democratic competition raises the risk of political monopolization.
A dominant party without strong competition can easily influence institutions, weaken democratic norms, and erode accountability. This environment can enable autocratic tendencies to grow unchecked.
Autocracy does not emerge suddenly; it begins with the centralization of power, the silencing of dissent, and the weakening of opposition structures. Nigeria must be cautious. The more defections continue to strengthen the ruling party, the greater the danger that democratic principles will be compromised. No nation is immune to authoritarian drift when the balance of power collapses.
Defections also disrupt governance. They cause legislative instability, policy inconsistency, and administrative confusion. Long-term national planning suffers when political actors are constantly changing allegiances. Investors lose confidence, and development initiatives stall.
To safeguard Nigeria’s democratic future, there must be stronger legal frameworks to regulate defections and protect the voters’ mandate. Political parties must strengthen internal democracy, while politicians must respect the platform that brought them to office. Nigeria cannot afford to normalize political opportunism at the expense of national stability.
Democracy thrives on choice and competition. Nigeria must protect these values before the drift toward one-party dominance becomes irreversible.
