In a blistering and wide-ranging interview, former Governor of Jigawa State and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Sule Lamido, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of attempting to rewrite Nigeria’s democratic history following his infamous democracy Day speech.
He also accused him of behaving like an emperor, surrounded by sycophants and dangerously centralizing power.
Speaking with a sense of urgency and deep historical insight, Lamido dismissed recent claims by Tinubu that he and Senator Ameh Ebute were central actors in the June 12 struggle, describing the assertions as “an effort to distort the facts and reward betrayal.” According to him, Ameh Ebute was installed as Senate President by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida after Senator Iyorchia Ayu was removed for resisting Babangida’s anti-democratic agenda.
“Rewarding Ebute as a June 12 hero is a travesty,” Lamido declared. “He was doing Babangida’s bidding. Ayu was the one who stood up for democracy, and he was punished for it.”
Lamido challenged Tinubu’s version of history, stating that at the time Abacha dissolved both political parties and the National Assembly, there was no legislature left for Tinubu to have mobilized. “There was no National Assembly. It had been dissolved. So who was he convening with?” Lamido asked.
He further criticized the growing personalization of national institutions and honors under Tinubu’s watch. “How can one man’s name be stamped on everything in Nigeria? We are becoming a republic of Tinubu,” he said. “When you play God, and you have sycophants around you, you end up dancing naked.”
Referring to Rivers State’s current political standoff, Lamido slammed Tinubu’s attempt to appoint state officials as unconstitutional. “Even under a state of emergency, the Constitution does not give him that power. It is the National Assembly that should take charge, not the president. What Tinubu is doing is an assault on democracy.”
Lamido backed Senator Seriake Dickson’s recent critique of Tinubu’s anti-democratic tendencies, praising the Bayelsa lawmaker for “speaking truth to power” during the recent Democracy Day events.
“Dickson is 100% right. You can’t be talking about democracy and at the same time talking about militocracy. Imposing somebody who is not elected to run in a country with a democratic system is not possible. You know, it’s all part of his grand desire to distort and manipulate and hoist, a false propaganda on Nigeria.”
He also tore into former Governor Nyesom Wike, saying Wike’s continued praise of Tinubu is nothing but theatrical sycophancy.
“Wike came out defending the naming of a major center after Tinubu. But let’s be honest—Wike is just the office he holds. Look through history: governors make a lot of noise while in office because all the attention and resources are on them. I did it too. We all did—El-Rufai, Fayose, Ortom. But once you’re out of office, you’re forgotten. Where are we now? Quiet. Invisible.
“It’s not Wike talking—it’s the office talking. Remove the office, and he becomes just another former governor—behind all of us in the queue.”
On national honors, Lamido lamented the loss of integrity in the award process, which he said is now being used as a political tool. “What is the qualification of those being awarded? Betrayal? Compromise? It used to be a process rooted in merit, but not anymore.”
In a scathing indictment of the state of Nigerian democracy, Lamido laid out the institutions that uphold democratic governance—the judiciary, INEC, the executive, the legislature, and political parties—insisting that all are now under Tinubu’s manipulation.
“Tinubu is too clever by half,” Lamido warned. “He may fool some, but he cannot fool all of us. He is centralizing power like Pharaoh. But history shows, it is only such emperors who end up destroying themselves.”
Asked about hope for the country, Lamido pointed to an article by Suyi Ayodele titled “The Powerful Man and his Faeces” as a mirror of current events. “Let Tinubu read that article. It shows what happens when power intoxicates a man. He is on his way to self-destruction.”
On the future of the opposition, Lamido was blunt: “When INEC, the security agencies, the judiciary, and the National Assembly are all under the control of one man, what opposition are you talking about?”
He concluded with a grim observation: “The Presidential Villa—once sacred—is now an APC office. Democracy is locked up. Nigeria is in trouble.”
“When Tinubu can openly hold partisan APC political events inside the Villa—that sacred space—it says everything. The Villa is supposed to represent power for all Nigerians, not just one party. But now, it has been turned into a party headquarters.”