The Allied People’s Movement (APM) has called on the international community to impose diplomatic sanctions including visa bans, asset freezing and other strong measures against Nigerian officials who are allegedly undermining democracy in Nigeria.
APM in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary Abubakar Yusuf, noted that the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) Tyranny Tracker platform, in its recent publication, www.tyrannytracker.org, stated that Nigeria is now a full authoritarian state under President Bola Tinubu.
The party said the report confirmed its position that under President Tinubu administration, “Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and democratic institutions have been captured by executive authoritarianism; security, anti-corruption agencies and the courts have also become weapons against opposition parties and dissenting voices with citizens now living in despair and fear of the government in power.”
APM noted that the HRF report also confirmed the use of security agencies to violently subdue citizens with scores killed and hundreds of others beaten, arrested, detained and charged for treason for criticizing the Tinubu administration.
The party stated in Nigeria, freedom of expression and the media have been suppressed with about 100 journalists brutalised and detained by authorities for covering pro-democracy protests or critical reporting.
“Also under President Tinubu’s watch, authorities continue to restrict opposition parties including using security agencies to intimidate, harass, detain and prosecute opposition leaders on trumped-up charges while denying opposition parties access to venues for political mobilisation.
“In many APC controlled states, opposition parties are denied access to the media and right to erect campaign billboards.
“More disturbing is the compromising conducts and activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under a known Tinubu apologist, Prof. Josiah Amupitan, including undue interferences in the internal affairs of opposition parties and refusal to obey court orders favouring such parties.
“Currently, majority of Nigerians have lost hope in the integrity of INEC as presently constituted, to conduct credible general elections that will reflect the Will of the people in 2027,” APM stated.
It described as unsettling that the All Progressives Congress (APC) led National Assembly has allegedly compromised and now act as a rubber stamp for authoritarianism against its constitutional mandate to check the excesses of the executive.
The party warned that the current situation in Nigeria, if not addressed, might lead to a crisis of monumental proposition capable of derailing the nation’s democracy and trigger a large-scale humanitarian disaster that could negatively impact neighbouring countries and of course, the international community.
APM however called for united front by Nigerians to “use all legitimate means allowed within the law to resist authoritarianism and get ready to vote out President Tinubu and the APC at the 2027 presidential election.
“Nigerians must use the 2027 general elections as a decisive opportunity to vote in a truly democratic and people-oriented government on the platform of the APM, in our collective commitment to preserve our democracy and restore our dear nation to the path of rule of law, economic prosperity and national stability.”