The Chairman of the Labour Party’s National Caretaker Committee and former Minister of Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deploying state institutions and public resources to stifle the opposition, warning that such acts amount to a deliberate subversion of Nigeria’s democracy.
Speaking at the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Global Award and Dinner Night in Abuja over the weekend, Usman—represented by her Senior Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Ken Eluma Asogwa—delivered a scathing critique of the APC-led administration’s alleged use of coercive tactics, including harassment, intimidation, infiltration, and judicial manipulation, to weaken opposition parties across the country.
“Since the emergence of the APC as the ruling party, there has been a deliberate and relentless campaign to undermine the opposition,” she said.
“Tactics range from infiltration and co-optation to the use of state institutions for harassment, intimidation, and even judicial manipulation. This is not democracy. This is domination masked as governance.”
The former minister alleged that the APC has mastered the use of state machinery to force opposition members into compliance or defection, creating an uneven political playing field and suffocating alternative voices in the country.
According to her, “A system that weaponises state resources to sow discord within rival parties is not one committed to free and fair competition, but one invested in authoritarian control.
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 warned that Nigeria’s democracy is at grave risk if opposition voices continue to be silenced and discredited, noting that robust dissent is essential to democratic resilience.
“Without a strong and functional opposition, we cannot claim to be practising democracy—only a shadow of it.
“Around the world, opposition movements help shape resilient democracies. Yet here at home, we are witnessing the slow suffocation of opposition voices—not by accident, but by design,” she said.
Usman, however, did not spare the opposition itself from blame. She said internal divisions, unchecked ambition, and self-inflicted wounds have also contributed to the weakening of democratic resistance.
“Let me 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. No amount of external sabotage can succeed if there is no internal decay,” she declared.
She urged opposition parties to abandon petty rivalries and selfish agendas and instead commit to building a unified and credible alternative capable of offering real hope to Nigerians.
“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,” she charged.
She also called on opposition leaders to go beyond rhetoric and provide concrete solutions to Nigeria’s challenges, including insecurity, economic hardship, and rising inequality.
“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,” she added.
Usman concluded by stressing that Nigeria’s future depends on the courage of the opposition to confront the present, correct its course, and offer the electorate a genuine and transformative alternative.
“Not just criticism, but conviction. Not just slogans, but substance. Not just ambition, but action.”
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