A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki (SAN), has said a recent global report classifying Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime is confirmation of what Nigerians have long experienced under the APC-led federal government.
The Human Rights Foundation’s Tyranny Tracker had listed Nigeria among countries ruled by a fully authoritarian regime in its latest global assessment.
According to the report, the country performed poorly across all pillars measured, pointing to a full descent into authoritarianism incompatible with democratic governance.
The foundation’s assessment parameters align with established frameworks used to identify authoritarian regimes, including rule by a dictator or small elite, the absence of institutional checks and balances, suppression of freedom of speech, targeting of the opposition, and weak or manipulated elections.
Nigeria, a federal republic of 36 states operating a presidential system of government, has grappled with ethno-political tensions since independence in 1960, enduring a civil war, military coups, and secessionist and terrorist insurgencies.
Since returning to civilian rule in 1999, the country has recorded its longest stretch of elected government, including seven consecutive elections and a peaceful transfer of power between ruling and opposition parties in 2015.
President Bola Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 election despite legal challenges, protests and calls for annulment, as well as violence that claimed more than 100 lives and the disenfranchisement of over a million voters, with irregularities and manipulation widely cited as having discredited the poll’s integrity.
Reacting to the report in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP faction said the findings validated concerns over Nigeria’s flawed electoral process, the absence of protection for dissent, the erosion of democratic safeguards, and the collapse of checks and balances on the executive.
“It does not take any high degree of intelligence for anybody to agree with the report, because all the indicators of authoritarianism are present in Nigeria, under this Tinubu regime,” the statement said.
As evidence, the party cited what it called uncivilised attacks by government officials on Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, and the Catholic Church at large, describing the episode as proof of the absence of free speech under the current administration.
“What did the cleric say that is not the lived experience of Nigerians, except, of course, the few who are isolated from reality and their paid human megaphones?” it asked.
The faction also faulted the National Assembly for what it described as a complete failure to check executive excesses, questioning how an administration that failed to fully execute the Appropriation Act for three consecutive years could still receive commendation rather than condemnation from lawmakers.
It argued that a parliament unwilling to enforce the constitution or its own standing rules cannot provide credible oversight.
The party further alleged that the 2027 general election is already being designed as a mere formality rather than a genuine reflection of the people’s will, and called on the Tinubu administration to take urgent steps to de-escalate rising political tensions linked to the actions of its officials and proxies.
It demanded an end to what it termed the continuous suppression of the opposition, the weaponisation of security agencies against real and perceived opponents, growing signs of partisanship by the electoral umpire, and inflammatory political rhetoric from the presidency and its aides.
“The President must realise that there are two contests embedded in the 2027 Presidential elections – the presidency and the country.
“An attempt to focus on winning the former at all costs may result in the loss of the latter,” the statement warned, adding that only a free, fair, credible and peaceful contest can secure both.
The PDP faction urged Nigerians to continue demanding accountability from their leaders at every level, describing it as the “irreducible minimum” democracy requires.
(The Whistler)