President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has clapped back at accusations that he is engineering the collapse of opposition parties, declaring bluntly that he did not force anyone to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking Wednesday night at an interfaith breaking of fast with senators at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tinubu dismissed claims that he is “killing the opposition,” insisting defections were voluntary.
“Critics must talk. When they accused me of killing the opposition, but I didn’t have a gun. I could have given myself a licence when I have the authority.
“But I can’t blame anybody for jumping out of a sinking ship if they did. What we have faced in the challenging period of this country, the terrorism and banditry, is causing us havoc. And we should pull together, unite in a way that our forefathers contemplated to bring about a constitutional democracy and pull us together. They didn’t say we should fight. It’s a good thing that we are working in harmony.”
With that analogy, the President suggested that opposition figures who dumped their parties did so out of self-preservation, not pressure from his administration.
Tinubu also shifted attention to Nigeria’s worsening security crisis, warning that terrorism, banditry and insurgency are stretching the nation to its limits.
He urged unity across party lines, saying this is not the time for political warfare.
The President called on the National Assembly to begin amending the Constitution to allow for the creation of state police, a long-debated proposal he believes is key to reclaiming forests from criminals and restoring safety nationwide.
