{"id":198656,"date":"2026-04-09T18:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu"},"modified":"2026-04-09T19:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:18:28","slug":"one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu","title":{"rendered":"One-party rule will end in disgrace \u2013 Mahdi Shehu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has cautioned political leaders against promoting a one-party system, warning that such a path often ends in failure and disgrace.<\/p>\n

Shehu gave the warning in a post shared on X on Thursday, where he reflected on the dangers and perceived benefits of one-party dominance in a democracy.<\/p>\n

According to him, true democracy is built on active citizen participation and the availability of multiple political parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue democracy is predicated on free and unimpeded citizens\u2019 participation in regular elections and guaranteed adult franchise under multiple party platforms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He, however, noted that many leaders tend to weaken these democratic principles after gaining power in a bid to remain in office for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory has shown that some of the tenets of democracy become inconvenient to many leaders who have ascended to power, such that they dilute those tenets to serve their inordinate desire to cling to power till death,\u201d Shehu added.<\/p>\n

Citing global examples, he pointed to countries where opposition parties exist but play little or no meaningful role.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust recall China, North Korea, Uganda, Chile, Eritrea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Cameroon as a few examples where opposition parties don\u2019t matter. They only exist at the convenience of the ruling party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Shehu argued that leaders who promote one-party dominance would eventually realise its futility.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaders and politicians who cherish and nurture a one-party state will realise the futility of their democratic selfishness when it is too little too late,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

He added that such leaders often leave power under unpleasant circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause willy-nilly, they will depart power or power will elude them, often with disgrace deserving no one\u2019s sympathy or pity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shehu also pointed out that one-party systems make it easier for citizens to assign responsibility for both successes and failures in governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have also made it easy for their citizens to know when and who to praise, condemn or hold responsible for good or evil in the country,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

According to him, such systems also simplify the work of historians and political analysts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, they make it easier for historians and political scientists to document their regimes with ease as they alone dominated the political stage to everybody\u2019s exclusion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further warned that leaders who undermine electoral processes are only setting themselves up for eventual failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll political leaders who shiver at the approach of elections, muscle opposition, coerce electoral institutions, chase away many, deploy material inducement and blackmail are simply making their crash and failure inevitable,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has been the verdict of history and there is no exception to that stubborn rule.\u201d Mahdi said.<\/p>\n

Currently, the APC has 32 out of the 36 state governors.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. A public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has cautioned political leaders against promoting a one-party system, warning that such a path often ends in failure and disgrace. Shehu gave the warning in a post shared on X on Thursday, where he reflected on the dangers and perceived benefits of one-party dominance in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nOne-party rule will end in disgrace \u2013 Mahdi Shehu - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has cautioned political leaders against promoting a one-party system, warning ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One-party rule will end in disgrace \u2013 Mahdi Shehu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has cautioned political leaders against promoting a one-party system, warning ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T17:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-09T18:18:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775758629.628995.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"One-party rule will end in disgrace \u2013 Mahdi Shehu\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-09T17:02:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-09T18:18:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775758629.628995.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/one-party-rule-will-end-in-disgrace-mahdi-shehu\",\"name\":\"One-party rule will end in disgrace \u2013 Mahdi Shehu - 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