George Moghalu: Nigeria Cannot Become One-Party State

In Nigeria’s evolving political landscape, few issues generate as much debate as the question of power, incumbency, and opposition strength. As political parties realign and defections continue to reshape the balance of forces across the country, the challenge of unseating those already in office has become increasingly complex. It is against this backdrop that the governorship candidate of Labour Party in the 2025 guber election in Anambra state, Chief George Moghalu, said although the implosion of the ruling All Progressives Congress remains a possibility, considering the recent defections of political bigwigs into the party, removing an incumbent in power is not a tea party. In this wide-ranging conversation, Moghalu also argued that while the right to switch parties is personal, it cannot override the mandate of the people who elected an official. For Moghalu, democracy is fragile, and the integrity of the electoral process must be respected above individual ambition. On the larger stage, he asserts that Nigeria can never become a one-party state. Drawing lessons from the rise and eventual decline of previous dominant parties, Moghalu demonstrates that political dominance is transient, and real power lies in accountability, internal party democracy, and an engaged electorate.  Adedayo  Akinwale brings the excerpts

A lot has been happening in the political scene. A lot of defections from one party to the other. As an experienced politician and one who has been in the ruling party before, I want you to tell us how you see this. Do you think a one-party state can function in Nigeria?

It is of great concern for me and for every democrat. When you talk about who is losing, for me, I would say that democracy is losing. And something has to be done about it. I agree in all honesty that the right to defection is a personal right. And anybody can exercise such a right. But what gives me concern is that those who are defecting, did they consult those who sent them to office for you to defect. That is why I am one of those who strongly believes that the only way for you to test a defection is for you to lose the position you are occupying. If you defect, you lose that position. And then go and test your popularity or your acceptability or the general acceptability of that decision in the minds of those who actually sent you or who elected you.

So, if you look at it in a very simple form, where you are going to, certainly the party you are going to become the beneficiary. One, party politics is about numbers. It’s about influence. So if, for example, a governor is defecting to a party, the party you are defecting into certainly will benefit. Because apart from the number, the governor doesn’t go alone, when a governor is defecting a lot of people usually go with him. Either those who are elected on the same platform or those who are benefiting from the government or those who see the governor as doing their bidding or the bidding of the people or meeting with the expectations of the people.  But it’s a moral thing. It’s a moral question. Is it morally justified? And I would like the person who is defecting to answer that question.

Then going to the issue of whether one party, there is no way we are going to be one party in Nigeria. We have seen this situation clear out before. There was a time in this country when PDP had 29 governors, approaching 30. I remember my personal encounter with my late brother, late Chief Vincent Ogbulafor who was chairman of PDP then. I remember him telling me, oh no, we are going to be in government for 60 years, uninterrupted. And we laughed. Where is PDP today? After three terms, PDP crumbled. From that 29 states then, we are talking of six now. Or less than six. So this is not new. What is happening now, to the benefit of APC is not new.

So are you foreseeing the APC going the way of the PDP?

One thing I have never arrogated to myself is that of a soothsayer, or a native doctor, or a prophet. Those three titles I have never arrogated to myself. Neither have I aspired to be any of those. You see, nobody can predict the future, to the best of my knowledge, and predict it correctly. So I can’t sit here now and tell you that APC will go the same way. You never can say. APC may survive it, APC may not survive it. You never can say. Even some people have said there may be implosion. Yes, it’s a possibility. You see, one thing about politics is that it’s a game of interests, particularly party politics. Because one thing you must give to political parties is that they do not have a gateman. It’s like a Church or a Mosque. It doesn’t have a gateman, and you can’t question anybody from entering. So as they come, you keep registering them. Because you’re looking for numbers. You’re looking for people. So where you have disagreement is when interests clash, where ambitions clash. So these are issues you cannot put under the carpet, because they most certainly clash. Interests must clash, because it’s all about self. Rarely do people even think about the nation or the people. It’s about self. And that is why you find that the most political parties today, they practically preach the same thing. The political parties are like vehicles for actualisation of political power. That is what we have today. Unlike in developed democracies, where political parties are built on ideology. You can say this man is a leftist, this man is a centrist, this man is a rightist. You can’t say it here because we’re in a country, we’re in a political system where somebody can be PRP in the morning, in the evening he’s KRC. The next day, he might be NPN. And you never can say it. So it’s a matter of personal comfort. Which one will make it possible for me to realise my ambition?

I know that for lawmakers, the rule is that except if or when there is division in their party, if a lawmaker defects, he’s likely to lose his or her seat. Would you want to advocate such a legal provision for executive office holders like governors, for them to lose their seats when they defect?

Oh, yes! There’s nothing wrong with that. We are talking about being elected on a particular platform. Because if you check, the ballot papers you have today do not bear the name of the candidate. It bears only the name of the party. And what the people are voting for is the party. Though represented by Mr. A or Mr. B. But it’s the party. So if now, for example, George Moghalu is elected on this platform, and for a lot of reasons, which is personal to me, I decide to defect from that particular political party that elected me and go to another political party. Morally speaking, I cannot justify taking the mandate of the people to another platform without getting their consent. And the only way you can get their consent for them to endorse your action is by subjecting their mandate to an election. Throw it back to the people. I said, I now want to go to this platform. Vote for this platform because I’m going there and if the people now vote for this platform, it becomes a matter of you. If they insist on where you’re living, it becomes a matter of the party. And since nobody can elect himself into office, the people have the right to say where they want you to go. It is not morally justifiable for you to take another people’s mandate to another platform. So that’s my position.

You may want to share your own opinion about developments around the political system in Nigeria. People attribute their defection to the fact that the government of the day is performing. What will you say about the Nigerian economy and if the government of the day is delivering dividends of democracy?

This question would have been better if I could boldly ascertain the mindset of those who are defecting. Because those who defected, a lot of them are giving different and varied reasons for defecting. Some say they want to connect to the centre. I don’t know how they were disconnected before. Some have said they want to be part of the federal system. So they have given various reasons why they are defecting. I have no problem or quarrel with that. That’s why when I started, I said, defection is a personal decision and the individual who is defecting must have a reason. For example, I defected from APC to Labour. That’s my first time. I’ve never defected before. That’s the first time. I went there strictly for a purpose, to find a platform that I will use to run for the governorship of my state, having been short-changed in my (former) party, that I’m a founder. Because I’m amongst those who founded APC. Having been short-changed and unfairly treated, I now looked out for another platform that will enable me to actualise my ambition. That was my reason. So for those who are defecting at various levels, they also may have different reasons for defecting. Some may be personal. Some may be group interests. Some may also be for their individual ambitions. We don’t know what they are, each and every one of us like my Bible would tell me that as our faces vary, so are the desires of our heart. So what we desire may vary from Mr. A to Mr. B. So if that is the case, it is when such a person asserts why he or she is defecting, then it will provide me a proper opportunity to analyse in particular terms what my views are with regards to the person.

But what I don’t really buy is when somebody says he wants to connect his state to the centre. And I usually ask, was your state disconnected before? Because statutorily speaking, constitutionally speaking, you are a sub-national. In terms of your location, the statutory amount you will get, it’s not about whether you are the centre or not.  There was an analysis I gave sometime when I had the opportunity to present a paper. I said that the dividing line between the party in government and the party in opposition is so thin, just like the dividing line between an idiot and a gentleman. Both of them sit quietly. Both of them are calm. An idiot is very calm. A gentleman is very calm. When you come to a meeting, both of them are very calm. They don’t argue. They can only make their point, whether responsibly or irresponsibly. But they speak at their own time. So the dividing line is so thin. And you can mistake an idiot for a gentleman. You can also mistake a gentleman for an idiot. So is the same thing with the dividing line between government and the opposition. One is in government to fulfil promises made. The other is also in government to ensure that promises made are kept. Because that’s a sensible position to make sure that everything you promise, you keep it. If you don’t keep it, we’ll wait for you at the next election to remind the people that you did not keep those promises. Meanwhile, the one in government has a responsibility to fulfil those promises made. So all of them are in government.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party just left the party and moved to the ADC. Are you moving along with him to the ADC? And in your view, do you think he will pose a good opposition?

Okay, your question has two legs. One is about the presidential candidate moving to the ADC and whether I’m moving. And the other leg of it is whether he will make a strong opposition to the party in government. Regarding the first question, I have a personal, very close relationship with His Excellency, Peter Obi. His decision to move to ADC is actually his. And for me, what I’ve been doing is consulting. I am a politician who tries as much as I can within the limits of possibility to go with people I have respect for, people I relate with. Before I took the decision to leave APC, I consulted widely. Before I took the decision to join the Labour Party to run for the election, I consulted widely. And now that the elections are over, I’m still consulting. And the moment I finish my consultation, because I must consult even those who left with me, I can’t just wake up and take a decision without involving them. On the 4th, for example, I had a very large meeting of my critical supporters, critical stakeholders. We discussed this issue extensively. Yesterday, I met with a group who discussed this issue. Today, I’m having a dinner appointment with two very critical players. I’m also discussing this issue. So by the time I finish my consultation, I will come out and make a statement with regards to what my position in this political dispensation will be because for now I have not made up my mind on the next move to make.  Then coming to the second question, but before then, I must also be honest enough to say that even before Peter Obi came out to endorse me, to support me for the election, it was also clear as to the fact that he said, and if you remember, that he was going to make a statement with regards to his next move before the year ends, but after the Anambra election, he was clear about that. And he moved on the 31st of December which means he kept to his promise to move before the year ends. So that goes to that.

Then the next question is about opposition. Let me repeat what I have consistently said: removing an incumbent is not a tea party. We must be clear about that. And the only way you can remove an incumbent or present a credible, formidable opposition is when there is unity of purpose amongst the opposition political parties and leaders. It has happened before in this country. Because I try to use experiences and lessons to draw an analogy of issues confronting us. In this country, if you remember, when ANPP, CPC, ACN, all were running independently, even though we presented Buhari in 2003, we presented Buhari in 2003 and 2007, he lost those two elections. He now left ANPP and ran on CPC in 2011, he also lost. Because in that election, the support base of the opposition was fragmented. ANPP had their own chunk, ACN had their own chunk, CPC had their own chunk. At the end of the day, the portion that was PDP happened to be more. So we all lost. But the moment there was an amalgamation of forces, ACN, CPC, ANPP, a fraction of APGA, then joined, even DPN also joined. We had a very formidable opposition. That was what produced APC and then when all these forces came together, then we could present a formidable opposition. Because by then, our leader in ACN, who is the present president now, our leader in CPC, who was the former president, our leader in ANPP, late Onuh all came together and agreed that if we go individually, we lose. It’s not a case of merger. It’s not a case of alliance. It’s a case of everybody dropping your ambition, everybody dropping your individual egos, everybody dropping your own individual ambition. Let us come together, present a formidable platform and we made meaning. We were able to now confront the opposition. The same scenario is playing out again and it will continue to be the same. Anytime opposition is fragmented, there’s no way you can win. So basically, the field is open. If the opposition decides to work together, that’s welcome. In fact, it will even make the incumbent sit up and do things better. Because the moment opposition is very formidable, it is the people that benefit. Not even the opposition leaders. It is the people that benefit. Because the people now become an issue. Because the opposition will be presenting themselves as defenders of the oppressed. And the incumbent will do everything to make sure that there is nobody to be oppressed, not less of defending the oppressed.

When a governor leaves, for instance, leaves PDP now and jumps into APC, he automatically becomes the leader of APC in his state. And this has created a lot of issues between such governors’ camp and the existing leaders of the party in those states.What’s your view?

It’s unfortunate. That’s how our politics plays out. Because the incumbent governor has resources. And that’s the driving force, truth be told. He’s not being the leader because he’s the most qualified. He’s not. He’s being the leader because he has something to give. He has something to share. He has power. He has favour to dispense. He can decide to come in today, become the leader, dissolve his cabinet and appoint 20 fresh people. He can decide tomorrow to get the State Assembly to change the constitution or to change their by-laws and make the term of local government chairman three months or six months or one year, bringing it down from whatever number so that he can bring in new captains at those levels. So he has a lot and he has leverage. He has influence. You cannot take it away from an incumbent governor. These are privileges that are attached to the office that he’s occupying. He’s not being the leader of the party in the state because he’s the most qualified. Not because he’s the most educated or the most politically suave. No!. Because he’s the one power revolves around. So every party needs to have a governor and that is why to assess the strength of a governor or a party in any state, they ask you who are those that are in office and what platform are they in the office.

And they say the governor is a member of the party, Senators, House of Representatives members. It’s okay, that party is the party to belong. Even the local government chairman, his local authority, local area, he commands a lot of respect and authority and automatically is the leader of the party in the local government where he’s in charge. And it has to come down from the top. If the president is the leader of the party in the nation without sounding unfair, it is fair also to accept the fact that the governor is the leader of the party in the state. And it goes down to the local government chairman being the leader of the party in his local government.

Invariably are you saying the ruling APC is unbeatable in 2027?

No, it is not unbeatable. You see one mistake all of us made, we politicians, is that at times we try to play God. Who did God tell you is going to be alive in 2027? Who? It has happened in this country before, people keep forgetting. Few minutes to being declared governor somebody died. People planned to run elections with us in Anambra, a good number of them didn’t make it. Why are we playing God. What is the guarantee that you will even see 2027. There is no guarantee. It’s not cast in Iron.

Can you tell Nigerians your take on 2027 general election?

It will come and go. Some people will die before that day. Some will participate. Some will not participate. Somebody will emerge. All power belongs to God and He gives to who He pleases at his time. And nobody knows who that person is.

What is the best solution to political godfathers and godsons crisis?

Internal democracy in the political parties. When you allow the people to own the political parties. They decide who their leader is. You don’t appoint a leader. A leader evolves among the people. You elect president, governor, chairman, have you seen where they say let’s go and elect our leader? You can decide to follow me inasmuch as I don’t have executive power. You can decide to follow me because I have your interest at heart.