The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has called for the merger of opposition political parties.

Atiku, who made the call in a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, on Tuesday, warned against the likelihood of Nigeria slipping into a one-party state.

According to the statement, the former Vice President made the remarks when he hosted the National Executive Committee of the Inter-Party Advisory Council Nigeria.

He said the project of protecting democracy in Nigeria was not about just one man.

“You have come here today to say that we should cooperate in order to promote democracy. But the truth of the matter is that our democracy is fast becoming a one-party system; and, of course, you know that when we have a one-party system, we should just forget about democracy,” he stated.

Atiku, therefore, tasked the leadership of IPAC, led by its National President, Yabagi Sani, on the need for the opposition political parties to come together and create a more formidable front that will salvage Nigeria’s democracy from sliding into a one-party state.

He said, “We have all seen how the APC is increasingly turning Nigeria into a dictatorship of one party. If we don’t come together to challenge what the ruling party is trying to create, our democracy will suffer for it, and the consequences of it will affect the generations yet unborn.”

Atiku also berated the Independent National Electoral Commission for allegedly conducting the worst general elections in the country.

He stated, “Recently again in the off-season election in three states, INEC doubled down on its disregard for the tenets of our democracy.

“We all can see how INEC declared a result in Kogi State where the total number of votes cast is higher than the total number of accredited voters in one local government. We cannot have a healthy democracy in an environment where all INEC does is to deliver for the ruling party at all costs.

“That is also why I will urge you all to appeal to lawmakers of the various opposition parties in the National Assembly to sponsor legislation that will advance the course of the constitutional and electoral reforms agenda that I shared in my recent press conference. The issue of electronic voting must be the urgent priority of the National Assembly because countries that are far less advanced than Nigeria are already doing it.”

Sani, while speaking on behalf of other members of IPAC, said, “Notwithstanding the glaring shortcomings associated with our elections, democracy remains the best form of government.”