Nigeria’s main opposition party has launched a scathing on the Tinubu administration, declaring that Africa’s most populous nation has descended into full authoritarianism under the current government. The Peoples Democratic Party issued the grave assessment on Saturday, pointing to what it describes as systematic erosion of democratic safeguards, suppression of opposition voices, and the collapse of institutional checks on executive power.
The allegations center on a recent Human Rights Foundation report that classified Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime in its global assessment. According to the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary for the Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong, the international findings merely confirm what Nigerians have been experiencing under the ruling All Progressives Congress led federal government. Published on the foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform, the report indicated that Nigeria performed poorly across all critical pillars of democratic governance, including electoral integrity, protection of dissent, and institutional independence.
Among the specific grievances cited by the opposition are recent government s on religious leaders, particularly Cardinal Onaiyekan and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria. Party officials characterize these incidents as evidence of intolerance for criticism, questioning why clerics cannot speak freely about the lived experiences of ordinary Nigerians. The party argues that such responses to legitimate criticism demonstrate a fundamental absence of free speech protections under the current administration.
The relationship between the executive and legislative branches has also come under fire. Opposition leaders point to what they describe as a complete failure of the National Assembly to provide meaningful oversight, noting that an administration has allegedly failed to execute the Appropriation Act for three years without facing legislative consequences. Rather than condemnation, they claim, the administration receives commendation from a parliament that reportedly ignores constitutional provisions and its own standing rules during critical legislative activities.
Looking ahead to the 2027 elections, the PDP has warned that current trends suggest the upcoming polls are being designed as mere formalities rather than genuine expressions of popular will. Party leadership has called on the Tinubu administration to take immediate steps to reduce escalating political tensions, specifically demanding an end to what they characterize as the weaponization of security agencies against opponents, increasing partisanship by electoral authorities, and inflammatory political rhetoric from the president and his advisers. The continuous suppression of opposition voices, they argue, threatens the survival of Nigerian democracy itself.
In a stark warning to the incumbent president, opposition figures framed the 2027 contest as containing two simultaneous competitions: one for the presidency and another for the country’s future. Attempting to secure electoral victory at all costs, they cautioned, risks losing the nation itself. Only free, fair, credible and peaceful elections can guarantee wins on both fronts, the party insists. As political temperatures rise and institutional tensions mount, the question facing Nigeria is whether democratic norms can be restored before the country reaches a point of no return. The opposition has urged citizens to continue demanding accountability from leaders at all levels, suggesting that popular pressure may be the last remaining check on executive overreach in a system where formal institutions appear increasingly unable or unwilling to perform their constitutional duties.
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