Match Guinea-Bissau democracy gesture with domestic action – PDP to Tinubu

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate the same commitment to democratic protection in Nigeria that he recently extended to Guinea-Bissau’s opposition candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa.

The factional National Publicity Secretary of the party, Ini Ememobong, in a statement late Monday referenced a press release by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, and his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Alkasim Abdulkadir, confirming that Tinubu granted asylum and protection to Da Costa after “imminent threats to his life” following the Guinea-Bissau presidential election.

According to the statement, the measure was taken to safeguard the democratic aspirations of the people of Guinea-Bissau and to reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to regional peace, stability and conflict de-escalation in the sub-region.

DAILY POST reports that the Nigerian embassy in Guinea-Bissau has granted asylum to the country’s opposition presidential candidate, Fernando Dias da Costa, over alleged threats to his life.

While acknowledging the gesture, the PDP said the President must now apply the same standards domestically.

The opposition urged him to check and curtail the activities of anti-democratic forces within his cabinet and political machinery, who openly orchestrate, fund and engineer crises in major opposition parties.

“The Nigerian political environment is increasingly under strain. The political space is being constricted through coercion of elected officials to defect to the ruling party and the sponsorship of crises in opposition parties.

“The democratic philosophy underpinning Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau should also guide Tinubu’s actions within Nigeria to safeguard the country’s electoral democracy from decline and prevent the slide toward a one-party state,” the PDP said.