One-party state: Nigerian political parties are mere special purpose vehicles, by Olu Fasan

Ostensibly, Nigeria is a multi-party democracy. But in reality, it is a one-party state. Those ululating over the recent gale of defections wrongly assume that there are material differences between Nigerian political parties. Yet, in truth, the prevalence of defections, decamping, cross-carpeting, or name it, only proves that nothing distinguishes political parties in Nigeria.Lord Palmerstone, a former British prime minister, famously coined the phrase “there are no permanent friends or