By SCM News Desk I Saturday, August 08,2026
ABUJA — The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asserted that the latest global assessment by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), which classified Nigeria as a fully authoritarian regime, is an international validation of the systemic democratic erosion Nigerians face daily under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a press statement issued on Saturday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP Interim National Working Committee, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the main opposition party declared that the country’s governance structure under President Tinubu now exhibits all the classical hallmarks of a full-blown dictatorship.
According to the PDP, the report—published on the Human Rights Foundation’s Tyranny Tracker platform (tyrannytracker.org)—highlights severe democratic backsliding, compromised electoral processes, targeted suppression of dissent, and the systematic collapse of institutional checks and balances across the nation.
Alignment with Global Indicators of Dictatorship
The opposition party emphasized that Nigeria performed abysmally low across all critical assessment pillars established by international political frameworks to identify authoritarian regimes.
”The assessment parameters of the foundation align with theoretical frameworks that have long identified and condemned authoritarian regimes—namely, rule by a dictator and a small group or single party, the absence of institutional checks and balances, the loss or apprehension of freedom of speech, opposition targeting, and weak, fake elections,” Ememobong stated.
He added that no complex analysis is required to appreciate the report’s conclusions, as the lived experience of ordinary Nigerian citizens under the current administration mirrors every metric of authoritarian governance.
Attacks on Dissent, Clergy, and the Legislature
Drawing attention to specific instances of state-sponsored hostility, the PDP criticized recent media attacks launched by government aides and proxies against prominent religious leaders and institutions, including Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), and the broader Christian community.
The party described these verbal assaults as clear proof of an ongoing squeeze on free expression. “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?” the statement queried.
Furthermore, the PDP raised alarm over what it termed the total capitulation of the National Assembly. The party questioned how the legislature could offer meaningful oversight when the executive allegedly operates without properly executing the Appropriation Act over consecutive fiscal cycles without legislative reprimand.
”A parliament that ignores or blatantly disrespects the country’s constitution and its own standing rules during critical legislative activities cannot offer credible oversight of the executive,” the party argued.
2027 Elections and Threat to National Stability
Looking ahead to the upcoming 2027 general elections, the PDP warned that the electoral framework is being deliberately rigged to render the exercise a mere formality, stripping citizens of their constitutional right to choose leaders through a transparent ballot.
The party cautioned the Tinubu administration against turning democratic contests into zero-sum battles that risk destroying the foundational unity of the nation.
”The continuous asphyxiation of the opposition, clear weaponisation of security agencies against real and perceived opponents, increasing signs of partisanship by the electoral umpire, and reckless deployment of combustible political rhetoric by the President and his handlers should cease,” Ememobong declared.
”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; and only a free, fair, credible, and peaceful contest can guarantee a win for both coveted prizes.”
The PDP concluded by calling on Nigerians to remain vigilant and continuously demand accountability at all levels of governance, describing citizen engagement as the irreducible minimum required to sustain democratic governance in the country.
