A presidential aspirant on the platform of the Accord Party, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has alleged that powerful political interests are plotting to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Olawepo-Hashim made the allegation in a statement issued on Thursday ahead of the party’s presidential primary scheduled for May 30.

He claimed that Nigeria was gradually sliding back into what he described as the “dark days” of the late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.

“Nigeria is being dragged back to the Abacha years,” he said.

The former presidential candidate accused influential figures of working behind the scenes to destabilise opposition parties and frustrate the emergence of credible challengers to the ruling establishment.

According to him, the current political atmosphere mirrors the Abacha era when political parties allegedly operated under one dominant power structure.

“We are seeing a replay of history, when political parties became tools for a self-succession agenda,” he stated.

Olawepo-Hashim also alleged that some top officials within President Bola Tinubu’s administration were involved in efforts to dominate the political space ahead of the next election cycle.

“This coordinated plot by top officials will fail, just as the Abacha agenda failed,” he said.

He further accused the political establishment of deliberately weakening opposition parties through legal and political manoeuvres, including what he described as manipulative amendments to the Electoral Act.

“They weakened the opposition, wrote the rules to favour themselves, and still refused to play by those rules,” he alleged.

Despite the internal challenges within the Accord Party, Olawepo-Hashim insisted that the party’s presidential primary would proceed as planned.

“The presidential primary of the Accord is scheduled for Saturday, May 30. We are prepared to participate, and by the grace of God, it will hold,” he said.

He vowed that pro-democracy forces would resist any attempt to undermine democratic values and political plurality in the country.

“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 added.

Olawepo-Hashim has intensified political consultations and mobilisation efforts in recent months ahead of the 2027 presidential election after formally aligning with the Accord Party.

The late Gen. Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998, a period widely criticised for suppression of opposition voices and restrictions on civil liberties.