The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, has commended President Bola Tinubu for offering asylum and security to an opposition presidential candidate in Guinea-Bissau, while urging him to apply similar democratic safeguards within Nigeria to prevent a slide toward authoritarianism.
In astatement on Monday, the PDP highlighted Tinubu’s decision to protect Fernando Dia Da Costa, who ran as an opposition candidate in Guinea-Bissau’s recent presidential election. Citing statements from Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar and his media aide Alkasim Abdulkadir, the party described the move as an effort to shield Da Costa from “imminent threats to his life,” while promoting regional peace, stability, and democratic values in West Africa.
“This intervention… is aimed at preserving peace and democracy in Guinea-Bissau and, by extension, the West African sub-region,” the PDP stated, praising the gesture as a positive step for conflict de-escalation.
However, the party quickly pivoted to domestic concerns, accusing elements within Tinubu’s administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of undermining opposition groups. The PDP called on the president to “apply the same democratic principles at home” by reining in “anti-democratic forces within his cabinet and political machinery, who openly orchestrate, fund, and engineer crises in major opposition parties.”
The statement emphasized Tinubu’s constitutional responsibility to maintain a “free, open, and competitive” political environment in Nigeria. It alleged that this space is currently being “constricted through coercion of elected officials to defect to the ruling party and the sponsorship of crises in opposition parties.”
The PDP warned that such actions risk eroding Nigeria’s electoral democracy and pushing the country toward a “one-party state.”
“The philosophical underpinning that catalysed Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau should also guide the President’s conduct domestically,” the statement read, adding that Tinubu “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.”
Signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, the statement concluded with a demand for prompt action to defend Nigerian democracy.
The statement comes amid ongoing political tensions in Nigeria, where opposition parties have repeatedly accused the APC of meddling in their internal affairs.
