Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, former presidential candidate and chieftain of the Accord Party, has accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of steering Nigeria back to the repressive era of late General Sani Abacha. In a statement released in Kaduna ahead of the Accord Party presidential primary scheduled for May 30, 2026, Hashim alleged that powerful political forces are deliberately working to cripple opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Nigeria is being dragged back to the Abacha years,” Hashim declared, asserting that influential figures are systematically weakening opposition platforms to prevent credible challengers to the ruling establishment. He specifically accused a top chieftain within the Accord Party of orchestrating internal maneuvers to destabilize the party and hinder its ability to field a presidential candidate.
Hashim drew parallels between the current political climate and the Abacha era, when all registered political parties were aligned behind a single power structure. “We are seeing a replay of history, when political parties became tools for a self-succession agenda,” he said.
The former presidential candidate linked the alleged plot to powerful figures within the Tinubu administration, but insisted that the attempt to dominate the political space would ultimately fail. “This coordinated plot by top officials will fail, just as the Abacha agenda failed,” he stated.
Hashim further accused the political establishment of systematically weakening opposition parties through manipulative legal and political strategies. He claimed this included the destabilization of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the enactment of a “self-serving and obnoxious” Electoral Act, and the failure of its promoters to comply with the same provisions before aspects of the law were challenged in court. “They weakened the opposition, wrote the rules to favour themselves, and still refused to play by those rules,” he alleged.
Despite internal crises within the Accord Party, Hashim affirmed that the party’s presidential primary would proceed as scheduled on May 30, 2026. “We are prepared to participate, and by the Grace of God, it will hold,” he said.
In a defiant tone, Hashim vowed that pro-democracy forces would resist any attempt to undermine democratic values and political plurality. “We shall not be discouraged. We shall not be intimidated. We fought for democracy, and by the Grace of God, we will defend it,” he declared.
