Tinubu accused of undermining democracy, weaponizing judiciary – Prof. Udenta
On Thursday, March 27, Prof. Udenta Udenta, the founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), accused President Bola Tinubu of undermining democratic values and using the judiciary as a tool to attack Nigerians’ rights.
Udenta made these comments on Sunrise Daily, a program on Channels Television, where he reacted to the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State. He called the move an example of how the Tinubu administration is distorting democratic institutions.
“The system that should protect democratic governance, you are weaponising them; the judiciary, the apparatus of the state, you are distorting, diluting and transmogrifying them in a way and manner that is shutting down democratic conversations,” Udenta said.
He emphasized that when those in power abandon the core principles of democracy and use the country’s laws and institutions to dismantle the democratic framework, it leads to the death of democracy. “It is not by firing a shot that democracy dies or crumbles, it is leveraging the guardrails like the constitution… to abort democratic rules,” he explained.
Udenta also criticized Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), the Administrator of Rivers State, for suspending all political appointees in the state, calling it another example of dismantling democratic structures. He described the situation in Rivers as a “hybrid regime” and a form of competitive authoritarianism, aimed at suppressing democratic institutions, including political parties, media outlets, labor unions, and civil society.
The scholar expressed concern over the worsening conditions in Nigeria, pointing out that the country is facing widespread hunger and poverty, with rising food inflation severely affecting the income of ordinary Nigerians.
