By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA— THE Nasarawa State governor, Abdullah Sule, Tuesday, said despite the gale of defection, there is no way Nigeria would become a one party state

Governor Sule also said that people are defecting from the opposition political parties to the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, because of the reforms put in place by President Bola Tinubu, which he said have started yielding positive results.

Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the governor said that every politician would always liked to identify with the ruling party.

He said that he came to visit the President, who is the leader of the APC to discus state matters.

On the insinuation that the country may be heading towards one party state, he said:
“I think I have answered this twice or three times now. I don’t believe, by the slightest of imagination, that we are going to be a one-party state. If you look at it, no matter how successful we are, even America, for instance, that have the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, you still have the Green Party and so many other political parties that you don’t hear about. So, the same thing with Nigeria.

“No matter what happens, there are people who are going to be in another party. Actually, we don’t even want Nigeria to be a one-party state. We just want to be the dominant party.
“We just want to be the winning party. We just want to be the party. If we can win 90% of the votes, okay, that’s it.

“The other parties can win 10% of the votes. So, it’s not about-and I’m not being sarcastic. I’m just trying to be serious with you.

“There is no way we can be a one-party state. But every party wants to be the dominant party. Every party wants to win elections.

“Every party wants to be able to give back to society and to give back to the people. And I think that’s what our party is doing.”

Giving update on lithium battery production in his state after its launch, Governor Sule said: “Well, Nigerians actually should know this. We commissioned the first one that you are talking about last year by the Senate President on behalf of Mr. President, and that’s about 3 million metric tons per annum.

“In the next two months, you are coming to commission another one that is going to be three times the size of that one in Nasarawa State. And then there are about three other ones that are coming up by the end of the year.

“So, we are beginning to see more and more development of lithium and tantalite and so many other minerals that we are having in the state.

“So these are the kinds of things that I talk to you when I say reforms about things that are happening. And when I mentioned to you that we are having the highest number of mini-grids in the country, you know, people didn’t even know why.

“One of the reasons is because there are so many of these small-scale companies that are operating, you know, agriculture, mining also, and they all need power.

“So what they do is that they require a mini-grid in their own location so that it can power their operations. And we are lucky in Nasarawa State, you know, it has been very peaceful. You know, so that’s what a lot of investors are looking forward to.

*They want to make sure that their place is peaceful and that they are able to move.”