Former presidential candidate, Gbenga Hashim, says he would not be intimidated by any legal or political moves aimed at weakening the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Hashim said this in a statement on Wednesday, insisting that Nigeria’s multiparty democracy is firmly rooted and cannot be dismantled.
Maintaining that he would not be deterred by what he described as manoeuvres allegedly sponsored by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, he stressed that no individual or political party can monopolise power in Nigeria.
The politician pointed out that Nigeria has historically embraced pluralism as a means of managing its diversity, noting that the country’s founding fathers deliberately adopted a multiparty system at independence.
“Nigeria has always been committed to multiparty democracy. Even in the First Republic, political power was never concentrated in the hands of one man or one party,” he said.
The PDP chieftain recalled that despite the influence of Sir Ahmadu Bello as leader of the Northern People’s Congress, other political movements such as Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU, J.S. Tarka’s Middle Belt Congress, and Sir Kashim Ibrahim’s Borno People’s Union also wielded significant influence.
Hashim further stated that similar political diversity existed in the South West, where the Action Group competed alongside the NCNC and other regional parties, including the Ibadan People’s Party.
“Our democracy has never been a democracy of one star flying in its firmament. In our sky there are thousands of stars,” he added.