APC, LP bicker over alleged use of state resources to stifle opposition

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP), yesterday squared up over alleged use of state resources to stifle opposition in the country. 

The Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, accused the APC of deploying various tactics, including intimidation, manipulation and harassment to stifle opposition, thereby undermining democracy in the country.

Speaking at the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Global Award and Dinner Night in Abuja, Senator Usman alleged that the APC was using state institutions and resources to force the opposition to conform to its wishes.

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Senator Usman, a former Minister of Finance, said such tactics undermine democracy, particularly with the growing trend of pressuring opposition party members to defect to the APC.

There have been mass defections of opposition members to the APC in recent times, ahead of the 2027 general elections. This is sequel to the resolve by the national leadership of the ruling party to get more members into its fold as part of its strategies to retain power in 2027.

Opposition parties have consistently accused the APC of planning to foist a one-party system on Nigerians.  But the ruling party keeps dismissing the claim saying it is not forcing opposition figures to pitch tent with it.

Senator Usman who was represented by her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Mr Ken Eluma Asogwa, said, “Since the emergence of the APC as the ruling party, there has been a deliberate and relentless campaign to undermine the opposition.

“Tactics range from infiltration and co-optation to the use of state institutions for harassment, intimidation, and even judicial manipulation. The ruling party has become adept not just at consolidating power but at weakening every form of challenge to it. This is not democracy. This is domination masked as governance.

“The APC cannot in good conscience profess commitment to democratic ideals while simultaneously working to destabilise opposition parties like the Labour Party and others.”

She said a system that weaponises state resources to sow discord within rival parties is not committed to free and fair competition, but invested in authoritarian control. “Without a strong and functional opposition, we cannot claim to be practicing democracy—only a shadow of it,” Nenadi said. 

“Around the world, we have seen how opposition movements shape democratic resilience. Yet here at home, we are witnessing the slow suffocation of opposition voices—not by accident, but by design,” she added. 

She urged opposition parties in the country to set aside personal ambitions, greed and internal divisions, and focus on providing credible alternatives for Nigerians.

“But let me also be brutally honest, while external interference from the APC has played a role, it is not the only culprit. The opposition has too often been complicit in its own weakening,” Usman said.

“We must acknowledge that personal ambition, greed and internal divisions have made us vulnerable. No amount of external sabotage can succeed if there is no internal decay. That is why I say the most potent antidote is not merely vigilance, but patriotism—genuine, uncompromising patriotism.

“When our leaders put Nigeria first – above ambition, above ego, above the lure of quick power—no ruling party can break us. It is time to stop acting like victims and start behaving like visionaries. Our role is not to whine about the state of the nation but to fight for its redemption.

 “It does this country no good to operate a system where one party dominates unchecked. Even the APC, if it is wise, should understand that democracy dies not with a bang but with the silence of dissent. Once the people are left with no real alternative, the legitimacy of the entire system is at risk.

“We must call out the failures of the APC administration—its economic mismanagement, insecurity, shrinking civic space and worsening inequality. But more importantly, we must come armed with real solutions and speak not just to the frustrations of Nigerians but to their hopes. Not just criticism, but conviction. Not just slogans, but substance. Not just ambition, but action,” she added. 

2027 will be people against APC – Kaduna PDP

Also, the Kaduna State chapter of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has vowed to dislodge the APC-led government in the state in the 2027 general elections.

It also said the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has failed to yield positive results. 

Addressing a press conference yesterday, the state chairman of the PDP, Edward Percy Masha  said, “The APC’s promise of a ‘renewed hope’ in security, welfare, infrastructure, health, education, agriculture and economic transformation has failed to translate into meaningful or positive outcomes for the nation.

“Since coming on board, there has been little or no difference in the security situation inherited from the preceding APC administration,” Masha said.

He said the APC-led government has brought hardship to Nigerians and made life miserable for the people. “The APC’s two years in office can best be described as Nigeria’s worst era, despite the humongous accruals from the subsidy removal.

“The 2027 general elections will be the people against the APC. We will mobilise the people to defend their mandate at all costs.”

APC fires back: We’re not behind your suffocation

But reacting, the APC National Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, dismissed the claims as false, saying the ruling party has no hand in the opposition’s travail. 

Ibrahim, in a phone interview with the Daily Trust, said the APC is busy delivering on its mandate and does not have time to interfere in the activities of “suffocating” parties like the Labour Party.

He argued that it was not in the interest of the ruling party to stifle opposition, and warned the opposition parties to stop accusing it wrongly. 

“It is not in the interest of the APC to be interfering in the activities of a suffocated party like the Labour Party. 

“The APC is too busy delivering, administering and trying to deliver on the mandate given to it. It doesn’t have the time to be interfering or hoodwinking members of the opposition.

“It is not in the interest of the APC. The APC is trying to encourage the opposition so that there will be vibrant politics and democracy,” he said. 

Ibrahim insisted that the APC-led government is committed to delivering the dividend of democracy to the people, adding that the party would retain power in the 2027 poll despite the opposition’s move to dislodge it.