HURIWA Alleges Tinubu Plotting ‘One-Party State’ Ahead of 2027 Elections
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised alarm over what it describes as a carefully orchestrated plan by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to manipulate the 2027 general elections and establish a de facto one-party state.
In a strongly worded statement, Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, accused the Tinubu administration of entrenching procedural manipulation through strategic appointments and political coercion.
According to the group, a major component of this plan involves placing card-carrying APC members as National Commissioners in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)—an act HURIWA calls a blatant conflict of interest aimed at compromising electoral neutrality.
The rights group also alleged that the APC is luring second-term-seeking PDP governors into defecting under pressure, describing them as “decoys” meant to manipulate election outcomes in their respective states.
“These tactics are why APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje could confidently boast that his party will secure two-thirds of Nigerian states and dominate the National Assembly,” Onwubiko stated.
HURIWA expressed grave concern over what it termed a creeping authoritarian strategy, warning that the APC’s moves mirror tactics used by China’s Communist Party to consolidate control.
“The ruling party is implementing a blueprint to turn Nigeria into a one-party state,” the group warned. “This is not just rhetoric—it’s a well-funded, well-contrived electoral manipulation machine already in motion.”
Citing the political crisis in Rivers State, HURIWA pointed to the alleged unconstitutional moves to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara as evidence of a broader APC plot to seize power before a single vote is cast.
“Illegally staging a regime change in Rivers and forcing Fubara into submission is just one piece of a much larger puzzle,” the group asserted.
HURIWA concluded by urging civil society organisations to stand firm, investigate thoroughly, and expose what it sees as a grave threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
