Alhaji Sule Lamido, the former governor of Jigawa State, claimed that President Tinubu’s imperial actions against the opposition are causing opposition politicians in Nigeria to panic.
He claimed that Tinubu is forcing the opposition to join the APC by leveraging his authority.
Speaking Tuesday in his Kano office, Lamido stated that Nigeria has changed over the past 25 years. He claims that President Tinubu is committed to destroying democracy and has fundamentally altered the political narrative.
He stated that the danger to democracy is one of the most urgent issues confronting the nation. He charged that the APC, President Tinubu, and the Federal Government were undermining democracy by abusing state institutions.
“Today, Tinubu is utilizing government patronage, blackmail, harassment, and intimidation to stifle the opposition through state institutions. Okowa, the PDP’s vice presidential candidate, is a prime example. He was abruptly charged with 1.3 trillion naira by the EFCC, but the charges vanished after he joined the APC, Lamido stated.
“No matter what your crime is, you will be forgiven once you join the APC,” he continued. This is the reason why guilty people are joining the APC. Our democracy is in grave risk because of this.
Sule Lamido insisted that the Federal Government, the APC, and President Tinubu are all using institutions to destroy democracy.
As a result, the country is facing a lack of security, stability, unity, and trust. He said that without mutual trust among the components of the country, Nigeria cannot make progress.
He warned that for Nigeria to move forward, its components must be united. However, he accused the government of deliberately dividing regions, such as separating the North Central from the rest of the North and creating divisions between the South East and South South for political gain.
According to him, the country no longer functions as a united federation with mutual respect and love. Instead, Tinubu has become an emperor who uses power to decide who lives or dies politically. He said this situation has left many people in a state of panic.
“People are now asking what to do. In that panic, there is talk of coalitions. But I have said before, the coalition we had in 2014 was organic. There were established structures like CPC under Buhari, ACN under Tinubu, ANPP under governors, and even PDP members like the President, Speaker, and governors who joined the alliance.”
“Today, the proposed coalition is just a gathering of individuals. Labour Party, PDP, and others are not uniting as political institutions but as individuals like Atiku, Peter Obi, El-Rufai, and others. That is why I am not part of it.”
Any coalition, in my opinion, needs to establish certain guidelines. Why are we gathering here? It ought to be for the sake of democracy, harmony, security, stability, and prosperity. These ought to be the guiding ideals rather than individual aspirations, retaliation, or revenge.
“I still belong to the PDP. Although I acknowledge that PDP has its issues, I am unable to change who I am and join ADC. I have a past. I was a PDP. I became a governor and a minister thanks to the PDP. My allegiance to the PDP led to my detention, harassment, blackmail, and the near-destruction of my home and office.I cannot, therefore, give up my legacy and join something new. My name is PDP. Any plan within or headed by the PDP that aims to safeguard Nigeria in 2027 has my support, but I will not back anything including Tinubu or the APC.
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