Dr. Gbenga Hashim, a presidential candidate running on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform, has stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will lose the 2027 general elections and that Nigeria’s multiparty democracy cannot be undermined by administrative or legal means.
Hashim, a veteran of Nigeria’s pro-democracy movement, alleged that the ruling APC was engaging in legal and institutional actions aimed at weakening opposition participation, ahead of the next election cycle.
He described these developments as part of a broader pattern that raised concerns about the future of democratic competition in the country.
“We have travelled this road before under Abacha’s dictatorship, and it ended in victory for the forces of genuine democracy, while the plotters of one-man rule were disgraced,” Hashim stated.
The PDP chieftain reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to multiparty democracy, noting that the nation’s founding fathers deliberately chose political pluralism at independence and embedded it in the country’s constitutional framework.
He said: “Our founding fathers opted for multiparty democracy, and by the grace of God, that legacy will be preserved. No group, no matter how clever or determined, will succeed in destroying Nigeria’s democratic system.”
Olawepo-Hashim warned against any drift toward authoritarianism, drawing parallels with Zaire under the late Mobutu Sese Seko, where prolonged one-man rule eroded democratic institutions.
“One-man rule or one-party rule will not happen here. This is Nigeria. We will not allow anyone to reduce our democracy to a tragic parody, as was the case with Zaire under Mobutu,” he added.
He also expressed concern over what he described as selective administrative decisions in the political party registration process.
