Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) @OfficialPDPNig has noted President Bola Tinubu’s gesture of granting asylum and providing protection to Mr. Fernando Dia Da Costa, the opposition presidential candidate in the recently concluded Guinea-Bissau Presidential Election.
According to information credited to the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, and his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Alkasim Abdulkadir, the decision was taken to shield Mr. Da Costa from imminent threats to his life, safeguard the democratic aspirations of the people of Guinea-Bissau, and reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional peace, stability, and conflict de-escalation in the sub-region.
While noting this intervention, which is aimed at preserving peace and democracy in Guinea-Bissau and, by extension, the West African sub-region, the PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, urged President Tinubu to apply the same democratic principles at home.
This he said includes checking and curtailing the activities of anti-democratic forces within his cabinet and political machinery, who openly orchestrate, fund, and engineer crises in major opposition parties.
“Although the President is not expected to assist opposition parties, he has a constitutional duty to ensure that Nigeria’s political space remains free, open, and competitive.
” Presently, this space is being constricted through coercion of elected officials to defect to the ruling party and the sponsorship of crises in opposition parties.
“The philosophical underpinning that catalysed Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau should also guide the President’s conduct domestically to safeguard Nigeria’s electoral democracy from decline and prevent the slide toward a one-party state”, he said.
The PDP spokesman added that the President must act promptly in defence of democracy in Nigeria.
“He cannot present himself as a defender of democracy in the sub-region while enabling anti-democratic practices at home that undermine democratic institutions and processes”, he said.