Former Anambra governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has raised alarm over what he describes as a calculated attempt by the federal government to destabilise political parties and weaken Nigeria’s democratic foundations.
In a statement titled “Now Disgraced Nation,” Obi said the recent description of Nigeria as “now disgraced” by U.S. President Donald Trump may have angered many, but unfolding events in the country make the remark increasingly difficult to dismiss. He cited the abduction of 25 citizens, the killing of a military general and other officers, and a fresh terror attack in Kwara State as signs of a nation in deep crisis.
Obi argued that rather than uniting the country in this perilous moment, the political environment is being poisoned by internal wrangling and partisan conflicts—distractions he believes are intentionally stoked.
According to him, the ongoing turmoil in the PDP, Labour Party, SDP and other political platforms is not accidental. He alleged that these crises are being “deliberately engineered by a government that should be embracing all sides to confront the insecurity and instability threatening the nation.”
He contrasted the present situation with the approach of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. During an internal crisis in Obi’s former party, he recalled, Yar’Adua instructed then INEC chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu, that the survival of every political party—not just the ruling party—was vital to democracy. No party was to be undermined; all were to function within the law.
Obi said the current government has abandoned that democratic ethos and is instead “more focused on weakening parties than strengthening the country’s democratic culture,” pointing to targeted moves to fragment the PDP, Labour Party, SDP, and several others.
He stressed that in stable democracies, opposition is respected, elections reflect the will of the people, and governance is anchored on carrying everyone along to ensure peace and national progress.
