The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the Monday editorial of Daily Trust titled “APC Should Learn From History,” describing it as “a sordid display of editorial bias, journalistic recklessness, and deliberate falsehood aimed at maligning the party.”
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, CON, on Monday, the ruling party faulted the newspaper’s claim that the recent defection of some state governors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC “portends a dangerous trend towards the erosion of multi-party democracy and a descent into a one-party state.”
The party argued that the governors’ decision to join the APC was a constitutional exercise of their freedom of association and could not be construed as a threat to Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
“The paper failed to explain how the governors’ democratic liberty to associate with a party of their choice constitutes a danger to the nation’s political system,” the statement read.
APC further faulted Daily Trust for suggesting that political officeholders must remain in the party on which platform they were elected, insisting that no law prohibits governors from changing political affiliation.
“If such a law existed, Daily Trust would have cited it. That omission shows its argument rests on conjecture rather than fact,” the party added.
The statement stressed that the APC, like any political party, reserves the right to admit new members without legal restriction or numerical limit, describing the newspaper’s editorial as “bereft of reason, objectivity, and rationality.”
According to the party, the recent defections to the APC are a reflection of “the opposition’s failed leadership and lack of internal democracy.” It also cited several former APC members who defected to other parties, including Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rauf Aregbesola, as evidence that political movement is not one-sided.
“Defections are part of Nigeria’s democratic evolution. When politicians leave APC for other parties, it is hailed as progress, but when they join APC, it is labeled a threat to democracy. That double standard is both glaring and unacceptable,” the party said.
Morka added that the existence of 19 registered political parties in Nigeria contradicts any claim of a slide into a one-party state, emphasizing that Daily Trust’s fears were “unfounded and driven by partisan sentiment.”
“One-party systems are not created by wishful thinking or discomfort over the rising profile of the APC. It would require sweeping constitutional changes that are both unrealistic and undesirable,” he noted.
While acknowledging the media’s right to editorial opinion, the APC urged Daily Trust to uphold “the principles of responsible journalism” and avoid publishing “falsehoods, conjectures, and deliberate misinformation.”
The statement concluded by reaffirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at improving the quality of life for Nigerians and building a stronger, more prosperous nation.
Signed:
Felix Morka, CON
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)
October 20, 2025
