Newsie Events Media :
Nigerian human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has delivered a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, arguing that Nigeria under his watch is anything but democratic.
In a pointed interview with News Central on Thursday, Effiong said the rights to free speech and expression — the basic tenets of democracy — are systematically being stripped from Nigerians.
From social media users to journalists and bloggers, he said the government is clamping down hard on dissenting voices.
Effiong didn’t spare Tinubu’s predecessor either. He asserted that the authoritarianism ushered in during Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure has not only continued under Tinubu but has now evolved with new layers of impunity. “We saw how courts were desecrated under Buhari. That legacy of tyranny remains unbroken,” he stated.
He raised concerns over how the State Security Service (SSS) operates, alleging that it now acts as a gatekeeper to the judiciary, determining who is allowed into courtrooms — a move he sees as a direct attack on justice. “The SSS, which I insist on calling by its rightful name instead of ‘DSS’, continues to infringe on judicial independence by denying citizens access to courts, especially during high-profile cases like that of Nnamdi Kanu,” he added.
Effiong also spotlighted a disturbing trend of state-sponsored intimidation. He referenced the case of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member who was allegedly targeted after publicly criticizing the government’s inefficiency. Similarly, a nursing student in Delta State reportedly failed her exams under suspicious circumstances after she engaged in online activism. “Are we really going to believe that was just a coincidence?” Effiong asked.
One of the more alarming incidents he recounted was the abduction of a man claiming to be the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Atiku Abubakar Isah. The man was reportedly tortured and coerced into implicating the president’s son in an undisclosed matter. Not long after, he was allegedly abducted again by the SSS, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
“That’s not how a democracy behaves,” Effiong said. “That’s the behavior of a regime intolerant of dissent, where even the illusion of freedom is being erased.”
Reflecting on Tinubu’s political history, Effiong pointed to his years as governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, describing them as a one-man show. “There was no room for opposing views then, and there certainly isn’t now. Lagos governance revolved solely around him, and that grip continues to this day through successors like Fashola, Ambode, and now Sanwo-Olu,” he noted.
He argued that this history should have served as a warning. “A man who has always led a one-party state will only replicate that pattern nationally — and that’s exactly what we’re witnessing,” Effiong said.
He concluded by calling out the current political climate, where mass defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) signal not political alignment, but a fear of standing apart. “Why is everyone rushing into APC? Because there’s no tolerance for opposing opinions. No one wants to be left out — or left vulnerable,” he said.
According to Effiong, a government that suppresses disagreement and punishes free expression cannot claim the democratic mantle. “There is absolutely nothing democratic about this presidency,” he concluded.
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