Chief Dele Momodu, a chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has made a startling remark, calling the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government “Worse than dictatorship”. This reproval came on the heels of the president’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly for six months.
Momodu who recently appeared on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief, argued that this move contradicts the democratic ideals Tinubu once advocated for, citing their shared history of fighting for democracy during their time in exile. He said, “I think it is very unfortunate. I know President Tinubu very, very, very well. Though I’ve not been in the same party with him and all that, we were together in exile, and he fought gallantly for this democracy. So, a lot of us, co-comrades at that time, are actually very embarrassed that we have a pro-democracy leader in government, and yet what we are witnessing is worse than dictatorship.”
Momodu underscored that while failure in other areas can be forgiven, failure in democracy is unacceptable. “You can fail in the economy, and people will forgive you. You can fail in other areas, but don’t fail in democracy,” he stressed. Momodu charged President Tinubu, “You must deepen our democracy, which President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded in doing, which Obasanjo succeeded in doing, despite allegations and accusations of a third term attempt, still managed to hand over power to President Yar’Adua.”
The veteran journalist enjoined the president to reassess his stance and reconsider his course of action, as he emphasised that the only way to guarantee a second term is to perform well in office, not to intimidate opponents. “The only thing that can guarantee a second term is to do your job well. You do not need to intimidate anybody. “I’m pleading with President Bola Tinubu, ‘Please don’t kill democracy in Nigeria.’ Everybody who loves him will tell him this.
I don’t; I’ve not asked him for anything, but we love him for his contributions to the motivation in the back, which is what is going down the drain,” the former presidential candidate stressed.
