PDP to Tinubu: You can’t defend democracy abroad, undermine it at home

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to apply the same democratic standards he purportedly championed in Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria’s domestic political environment.

The opposition party said the President cannot position himself as a defender of democracy abroad while tolerating practices at home that allegedly weaken Nigeria’s democratic space.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP reacted to reports that President Tinubu granted asylum and protection to Mr. Fernando Dia Da Costa, the opposition presidential candidate in the recently concluded Guinea-Bissau election.

Citing information attributed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, and his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Alkasim Abdulkadir, the PDP said the move was presented as a measure to shield Mr. Da Costa from threats to his life and to reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional stability.

“The decision was taken to shield Mr. Da Costa from imminent threats to his life, safeguard the democratic aspirations of the people of Guinea-Bissau, and reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional peace, stability, and conflict de-escalation in the sub-region,” Ememobong noted.

While acknowledging the intervention as a positive step for peace and democracy in the West African sub-region, the PDP said President Tinubu must demonstrate the same commitment within Nigeria.

“The PDP urges President Tinubu to apply the same democratic principles at home. This includes checking and curtailing the activities of anti-democratic forces within his cabinet and political machinery, who openly orchestrate, fund, and engineer crises in major opposition parties,” the party said.

The PDP argued that although the President is not expected to assist opposition parties, he has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that Nigeria’s political arena remains free, competitive, and devoid of coercive tactics. It accused unnamed actors within the ruling party of allegedly coercing elected officials to defect and sponsoring internal crises in opposition parties.

“Presently, this space is being constricted through coercion of elected officials to defect to the ruling party and the sponsorship of crises in opposition parties,” Ememobong added.

The party said the same philosophical principles guiding Nigeria’s foreign intervention should shape the President’s domestic conduct, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could drift toward a one-party state without decisive action.

“The philosophical underpinning that catalysed Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau should also guide the President’s conduct domestically to safeguard Nigeria’s electoral democracy from decline and prevent the slide toward a one-party state,” Ememobong said.

The PDP urged the President to act promptly, arguing that credibility in defending democracy abroad must begin with strengthening it at home.

“The President must act promptly in defence of democracy in Nigeria. He cannot present himself as a defender of democracy in the sub-region while enabling anti-democratic practices at home that undermine democratic institutions and processes,” the PDP stated.

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