Segun Sowunmi Slams Claim That Defections Are Coerced

Otunba Segun Sowunmi, PDP chieftain and convener of The Alternative, has dismissed claims that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is coercing politicians to defect.

In an article titled “Democracy Is Not an Entitlement: A Response to the Alarmism Ahead of 2027”, published on X on Tuesday, Sowunmi argued that warnings about democracy being under threat due to defections stem from a misunderstanding of democratic principles.

He was responding to concerns raised after Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf’s defection to the ruling party, which some critics said signaled erosion of democratic norms.

“By any serious standard, democracy is measured not by how comfortable political actors feel, but by whether citizens retain the power to choose their leaders,” Sowunmi wrote.

He noted that critics are wrongly equating political setbacks with threats to democracy, and loss of influence with a loss of freedom. Democracy, he stressed, guarantees rights such as freedom of association, speech, contestation, and voting—not political relevance for parties.

“Democracy does not obligate a ruling party to protect its opponents. Parties earn competitiveness; they are not entitled to it,” Sowunmi added.

He described defections and shifting political alliances as normal outcomes in a dynamic political landscape and warned against portraying them as evidence of coercion without proof.

“To portray defections as coercion without evidence is intellectually lazy and politically convenient. Nigerian politicians are not hostages; they are actors responding to ideology, ambition, incentives, and survival,” he said.

Sowunmi also argued that if opposition parties are losing members, the focus should be on why they are failing to inspire confidence, rather than alleging intimidation.

Finally, he rejected claims that democracy would be threatened if a sitting president completed two terms, pointing out that democratic institutions have remained intact under similar circumstances in the past.