Turaki- led PDP Applauds International Human Rights Group Over Authoritarian Remarks On Tinubu

The  Tanimu Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed  the Human Rights Foundation for its latest global assessment describing Nigeria as a “fully authoritarian regime” under President Bola Tinubu.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Ini Ememobong, stated this in a statement on Saturday, saying the assessment was a global confirmation of what Nigerians had allegedly been experiencing under the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.

According to him, the report, published on the foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform, reflected the erosion of democratic safeguards and institutional checks and balances in the country.

He said Nigeria performed abysmally low on the critical pillars used by the foundation in its assessment, indicating what he described as the country’s descent into authoritarianism.

Ememobong said the parameters adopted by the Human Rights Foundation were consistent with established theoretical frameworks for identifying authoritarian regimes, including rule by a dictator or a small group, absence of institutional checks and balances, restrictions on freedom of speech, targeting of opposition and weak electoral processes.

He argued that the indicators of authoritarianism were increasingly evident in Nigeria under the Tinubu administration.

The PDP spokesman cited what he described as recent media attacks by officials of the administration against Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, the Catholic Church and Christianity generally.

He said the development was one of several instances which, in his view, demonstrated the alleged shrinking space for freedom of expression under the 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?” he asked.

Ememobong also criticised the National Assembly over what he described as its failure to provide meaningful checks on the executive arm of government.

He questioned how an administration could allegedly fail to execute the Appropriation Act for three years and still receive commendation rather than condemnation from the legislature.

The PDP spokesman further alleged that the National Assembly had disregarded the Constitution and its own standing rules during critical legislative activities, arguing that such actions had weakened its capacity to provide credible oversight of the executive.

On the 2027 general elections, he alleged that the process was being reduced to a mere formality rather than allowing Nigerians to freely determine their leaders through the ballot.

He called on the Tinubu administration to take immediate steps to de-escalate what he described as rising political tensions arising from the actions of government officials and their alleged proxies.

Ememobong urged the administration to halt what he described as the “continuous asphyxiation of the opposition,” alleged weaponisation of security agencies against real and perceived opponents, increasing signs of partisanship by the electoral umpire and what he termed reckless deployment of political rhetoric by the President and his handlers.

He warned President Tinubu that the 2027 presidential election would involve two contests—the struggle for the presidency and the broader contest over the future of the country.

“The President must realise that there are two contests embedded in the 2027 Presidential elections—the presidency and the country,” he said.

He warned that an attempt to win the presidency “at all costs” could result in the loss of the country, stressing that only a free, fair, credible and peaceful electoral contest could guarantee victory in both contests.

The PDP spokesman urged Nigerians to continue demanding accountability from their leaders at all levels, describing accountability as the “irreducible minimum” provided by democracy.