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By Daniel Adaji, Abuja
The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) USA has issued a scathing condemnation of President Bola Tinubu, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing them of orchestrating an assault on Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
The statement, signed by the organization’s President/CEO, Lloyd Ukwu on Thursday, described the trio as a “dark alliance” working to undermine the country’s democracy and impose authoritarian rule.
“You will never find justice where criminals are making the rules,” Ukwu quoted Bob Marley as saying, emphasising that the recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of its elected officials was a dangerous precedent.
On March 18, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State citing ‘political unrest and insecurity in the state. He also suspended the Governor, Sim Fubara, his deputy, and the members of the State House of Assembly for six months.
In a nationwide emergency broadcast on Tuesday, Tinubu said: “I feel greatly disturbed by the political crisis in Rivers. The state has been at a standstill, and the people have been deprived of good governance.”
The ‘crisis’ in Rivers State dates back to October 2023, following a political fallout between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Wike.
Tensions escalated on October 29, 2023, when a section of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex was bombed.
Since then, Wike and Fubara have been engaged in a prolonged battle for control over the state’s political structures.
“The Judiciary has been influenced by the highest bidders, namely Tinubu and Wike. Similarly, the National Assembly has also fallen into the hands of the highest bidders, which include Tinubu, Wike, and Akpabio,” he declared.
According to Ukwu, this coordinated power grab is systematically dismantling Nigeria’s democracy.
“The unusual partnership of Bola Tinubu and Nyesom Wike, both skilled Machiavellian politicians, is concerning for Nigeria. One is a transactional person who is out to purchase the entire country, and the other is a well-known political tactician who is willing to betray those who helped to make him,” he stated.
*A threat to democratic institutions*
NADECO USA warned that the recent political crisis in Rivers State was merely a test case for a broader authoritarian takeover.
“It would be unfortunate if the people of Rivers State and Nigerians in general accepted the dismissal of elected officials in Rivers State without a fight,” Ukwu stated, adding that the move was part of a larger strategy to consolidate power.
“Tinubu has conquered and unified the other two branches of government, the National Assembly and the Judiciary. He is now methodically moving to the States to do the same.”
Ukwu further warned that if this trend continues unchecked, Nigeria’s democracy will cease to exist.
“As soon as he succeeds in dismantling the institutions, that is the end of Democracy, and totalitarianism or Civilian Dictatorship is born. This will be one of the biggest ironies in Nigeria’s political history—that the man Bola Tinubu, who claimed to have fought for democracy in Nigeria, is now the same man who murdered and replaced it with autocracy and totalitarianism,” he said.
Ukwu did not hold back in drawing comparisons between Tinubu and infamous autocrats.
“We are witnessing the evisceration of constitutional democratic governance and wily-nilly descending into totalitarianism, a one-strongman rule… Tinubu, the King of Nigeria, aka Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany and Donald Trump of the United States,” he asserted.
He argued that Tinubu’s actions mirror those of past leaders who subverted democracy.
“Unfortunately, and shockingly—though not surprisingly—Tinubu has unleashed political chaos in Nigeria. All the signs of a political crisis are becoming evident: we see a compliant, rubber-stamp National Assembly, an apologetic and sympathetic judiciary represented by the Supreme Court (which should be referred to as the ‘Supreme Curse’), and a complete takeover of the security apparatus,” he noted.
*A manufactured crisis in Rivers State*
NADECO USA accused the Tinubu-led government of fabricating a crisis to justify authoritarian control over Rivers State.
While Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution allows for the declaration of a state of emergency, it specifies certain conditions that must be met for this to
occur. Section 305(3),) of the Constitution, outlines specific conditions,
including:
War or external aggression against Nigeria; imminent danger of invasion or war; a breakdown of public order and safety to such an extent that
Ordinary legal measures are insufficient; a clear danger to Nigeria’s existence; occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity affecting a state or a
part of it and such other public danger that constitutes a threat to the Federation. These conditions appear not to have been met or exist in this
situation.
“Because they realized that the above conditions [for declaring a state of emergency] did not take place, they manufactured the burning of a pipeline to defraud Nigerians into believing that there was an emergency,” Ukwu alleged.
He added that “Tinubu is imposing a state of emergency using fake and illegal thresholds and pretenses such as the purported pipeline explosion.”
Ukwu urged Nigerians and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to resist Tinubu’s power grab, citing historical examples of successful resistance against dictatorship.
“The Nigerian Bar Association can make history and save Nigeria from the precipice by doing what the Pakistan Bar Council did,” he said, referring to the 2007 Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan, which successfully ousted a military dictator.
“NBA, DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT!!!” he implored.
NADECO also highlighted Tinubu’s double standards in the Rivers State crisis.
“Mr. President has openly stated in his broadcast that his appointee, Nyesom Wike, ignored his attempts to seek a peaceful resolution, yet Wike still remains the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” Ukwu noted.
“In contrast, Governor Fubara, an elected official who does not report directly to the President, has been suspended from office. What a shameful situation!!!”
He further mocked Tinubu’s leadership, arguing that Nigeria does not need “a secondary school principal” but rather “a strong leader.”
*The road to tyranny*
NADECO warned that Nigeria is on the verge of dictatorship.
“At this critical moment, Nigeria does not need a dictator or tyrant like Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar,” Ukwu stated.
He added, “If Tinubu is so incompetent that he cannot manage a small crisis, how can he be expected to handle a significant breakdown of law and order, such as the one that the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua successfully addressed, ultimately leading to the creation of the Amnesty Programme?”
With democracy hanging by a thread, Ukwu reiterated his urgent appeal to Nigerians: “Nigerians, where are you? Hello, Nigeria and Nigerians, where are you?”