Former presidential candidate and chieftain of the Accord Party, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has accused powerful forces within the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of plotting to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that Nigeria risks sliding back into what he described as the “dark days” of the late General Sani Abacha regime.
In a strongly worded statement issued ahead of the Accord Party presidential primary scheduled for May 30, 2026, Olawepo-Hashim alleged that influential political actors were deliberately undermining opposition platforms in a bid to prevent the emergence of credible challengers to the ruling establishment.
“Nigeria is being dragged back to the Abacha years,” he declared.
The former presidential candidate accused a top figure within the Accord Party of allegedly orchestrating internal moves aimed at destabilising the party and frustrating efforts to field a presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
According to him, the unfolding situation mirrors the political climate under the Abacha regime, when all registered political parties were allegedly aligned behind a single power structure.
“We are seeing a replay of history, when political parties became tools for a self-succession agenda,” he stated.
Olawepo-Hashim further alleged that some powerful figures within the Tinubu administration were backing attempts to dominate the political space, insisting that such efforts would ultimately fail.
“This coordinated plot by top officials will fail, just as the Abacha agenda failed,” he said.
He also accused the political establishment of systematically weakening opposition parties through what he described as manipulative legal and political strategies.
According to him, the process included the destabilisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the enactment of a “self-serving and obnoxious” Electoral Act, and the alleged refusal of some of its promoters to comply with provisions of the same law before aspects of it 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 the reported internal crisis within the Accord Party, Olawepo-Hashim maintained that the party’s presidential primary would proceed as scheduled on May 30.
“The presidential primary of the Accord Party is scheduled for Saturday, May 30. We are prepared to participate, and by the Grace of God, it will hold,” he said.
In a defiant tone, the former presidential candidate vowed that pro-democracy forces across the country 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.
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