Phrank Shaibu, senior special assistant on public communication to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, says President Bola Tinubu is afraid of free political competition despite the ruling party’s growing dominance.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Shaibu alleged that “Nigeria’s democracy is being systematically weakened by a dangerous consolidation of power under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
“What is unfolding is not subtle—it is deliberate,” he added.
Shaibu said the alignment of more than 30 state governors with the ruling party should ordinarily demonstrate political confidence.
“At a time when over 30 state governors have been drawn into the ruling party’s orbit, one would expect confidence, openness, and a willingness to face genuine electoral competition,” he said.
“Instead, what Nigerians are witnessing is the opposite: a growing pattern of actions that suggest not strength but fear—fear of credible opposition, fear of free competition, and fear of the Nigerian voter.”
Shaibu questioned why a government with extensive political influence would still seek to restrict democratic competition.
“Why would a government with such overwhelming political control still feel compelled to shrink the democratic space? The answer is becoming increasingly clear,” he said.
“Beyond coercing governors and political heavyweights into its fold, the Tinubu administration already commands the instruments of state power—the security architecture, the advantage of incumbency, access to the national treasury, the perceived sympathy of segments of the judiciary, and a pliable electoral environment.”
Shaibu said the administration’s actions reflect anxiety about opposition parties and voters.
“Yet, despite this overwhelming dominance, there remains a visible anxiety about the opposition and, more importantly, about the Nigerian people,” he said.
“Because deep down, they know this truth: stomach infrastructure cannot substitute for public trust.
“Bags of rice, spaghetti, and Indomie may offer temporary relief, but they cannot secure legitimacy at the ballot box.
“This attempt to reconfigure Nigeria to ‘Rice-geria’ will not help these urban bandits; it will end in shame.”
Shaibu alleged that opposition parties have been destabilised by internal crises worsened by judicial interventions.
“Opposition parties have been destabilised by persistent internal crises, many of which have been sustained through conflicting and questionable judicial interventions,” he said.
Shaibu said several prominent political figures are operating in what he described as a constrained political environment.
“Across the political spectrum, leading figures—including Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abubakar Malami, Nasir El-Rufai, David Mark, and Rauf Aregbesola, among others—are navigating a political environment that is becoming visibly constrained,” he said.
“This is not how a healthy democracy functions.”
He warned that Nigeria risks sliding into a one-party state if the trend continues.
“Let it be said plainly: a democracy where the ruling party amasses overwhelming control and still works to weaken the opposition is a democracy in distress,” he said.
Shaibu said the former vice-president remains committed to democratic competition and electoral choice.
“Atiku Abubakar remains committed to a Nigeria where leadership is determined by the will of the people—not by pressure on institutions, not by engineered party instability, not by the quiet rewriting of the rules of engagement, and certainly not by crass and reckless detention orders on opposition leaders,” he added.
Reported by Jerrywright Ukwu, Originally Published by The Cable